New Jersey Devils franchise star Jack Hughes was missing from Tuesday’s morning skate.
Instead, Hughes worked out off the ice. Although he did not participate in Tuesday’s practice, interim head coach Travis Green explained Hughes will play tonight against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
It’s on the record that the centerman is not playing 100%, and likely never has been since returning from his last injury stint. Regardless, Devil fans can breathe a sigh of relief that Hughes will be in the lineup, likely next to Erik Haula and Alexander Holtz where Max Willman was seemingly a placeholder.
The Devils will be without defenseman John Marino, again. Marino missed two games last week against the Arizona Coyotes and Dallas Stars before drawing back into the lineup on Sunday vs. the Vegas Golden Knights.
Marino was dealing with an upper-body injury then, and although Green didn’t indicate Marino reaggravated anything, it seems to be the same injury keeping him out of the lineup against the Penguins.
As a result, it appears Santeri Hatakka will dress in Marino’s spot in the linuep.
Green also provided an update on Nolan Foote’s status. Foote was activated from the injured reserve eight days ago, yet has not drawn into the lineup over the Devils’ last five games.
The Devils’ interim head coach explained Foote “got hurt,” therefore explaining his absence.
“Yeah, he got hurt,” Green explained. “He wasn’t on the road trip with us and he’s still not skating.”
As for the Devils’ crease, Jake Allen was in the starter’s net this morning. Green confirmed he will be in the net against the Penguins, his first start on home ice with the Devils.
On Allen, Green explained the veteran goaltender has been a stabilizing presence in net.
“He’s looked sharp. He looks like a veteran goalie,” Green said. “(Jake) makes all the saves he should and every night you usually see a couple that — in today’s game — you say ‘Wow, that’s a good save.’ You need that at this time of year and he’s given that to us in his two games and he’ll be in again tonight.”
Tuesday’s Morning Workflow:
Forwards
Timo Meier – Nico Hischier – Jesper Bratt
*(Max Willman) – Erik Haula – Alexander Holtz
Ondrej Palat – Tomas Nosek – Dawson Mercer
Kurtis MacDermid – Chris Tierney – Curtis Lazar
Defenseman worked in rotation
Kevin Bahl – Santeri Hatakka
Luke Hughes – Nick DeSimone
Brendan Smith – Simon Nemec
Goaltenders
Jake Allen
Kaapo Kahkonen
*Placeholder for Jack Hughes
How to Watch
Time: 07:00 PM
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