ST. LOUIS -- Three games stand between the Devils and their mandated five-day bye week, where they won't play or practice from Jan. 8 through Jan. 12.

The Devils will play three times on the road prior to their break, with games against the St. Louis Blues, Dallas Stars and New York Islanders.

New Jersey opens 2018 play with a 22-10-6 record, and their 50 points have them in position to make a playoff run in the second half of the season.

But they are riding a two-game losing streak, and this current trip will certainly be a challenge.

The Devils hope to piece together a strong run and put themselves into a comfortable position entering the bye week.

"With the way January and the end of December is kind of set up, you have a couple breaks with the All-Star break and things like that," forward Kyle Palmieri said. "So breaking it up into segments helps break it up a little bit and put things behind you, whether positive or negative, so right now we have a good little home stand here, and hopefully continue that before the road trip next week. Before you know it you'll be at the bye week and recharging the batteries, just go from there."

Chris Ryan may be reached at cryan@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @ChrisRyan_NJ. Find NJ.com Devils on Facebook.