The New Jersey Devils held a brief practice session on Saturday at the RWJBarnabas Health Hockey House, located inside Prudential Center. The team is preparing for a home-and-home series against the Colorado Avalanche, starting with a game at home on Sunday afternoon.
Head coach Sheldon Keefe confirmed that Nico Hischier was absent from practice for maintenance reasons. Juho Lammikko filled in during drills but is not yet ready to return from an injury sustained during the preseason.
Goaltender Jacob Markstrom, who has been sidelined since October 15 after an injury in Columbus, participated in both Friday’s morning skate and Saturday’s practice. Keefe said Markstrom will travel with the team on their upcoming nine-day road trip, which includes stops in Colorado, San Jose, Los Angeles, and Anaheim. “He’ll be on the trip,” Keefe stated. “We see him playing on the trip. When exactly that is we’ll have to see how he feels today and what that looks like. Once we get out to Colorado tomorrow night, we’ll have an opportunity for him to skate out in Colorado on Monday too and see where it goes from there.”
Defenseman Dougie Hamilton recently scored two goals against the San Jose Sharks and has contributed significantly to the team’s penalty kill unit. Keefe commented on Hamilton’s play: “His consistency in his play, shift to shift has been better,” Keefe said. “I think Brad Shaw spent a lot of time with him, has been very clear with him in terms of expectations and then he’s followed that up by giving him great opportunity. He’s been a very consistent and regular contributor on our penalty kill, that forces him to be in a defensive mindset, to check, to play hard, to be competitive, to be in a situation where you’re shorthanded, the added level of urgency and desperation that comes iwth that. I think that just bleeds into the rest of your game. We’ve been really happy with Dougie.”
Discussing their upcoming opponent, Keefe noted the strengths of the Avalanche: “They’ve got great talent and skill-level there,” he said about Colorado’s defensemen. “A lot of that comes from the speed and skill of their forwards that they back you off, they create separation and they find the defense late and the defense is active in the offensive zone. They’ve just got multiple threats. No real surprises but with (Gabriel) Landeskog and (Brock) Nelson there now, it’s a different looking group in terms of their depth and their depth players are as good as ever. Lots of speed, lots of skill. I think it’s a challenge unlike we have seen here quite yet in terms of the depth and the confidence that their team has. They haven’t lost in regulation all season long and they generate a ton. So it’s going to be a great opportunity for us to meet that challenge.”
Devils defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler also spoke about facing Colorado: “They’re a fast team, they’ve got good players, they can skate, a lot,” Siegenthaler said. “A lot of skills, but so are we. We’ve got a skilled team, we’re good skaters. At the end it’s about us not giving them too much, not opening up the game, playing consistent and stick to our game plan. Our chances will come. We don’t need to force anything.”
The Devils’ penalty kill had previously killed off 21 consecutive penalties before their last game against San Jose.
The Devils will host Colorado before traveling west for several games as part of their extended road trip.
