Devils News: Lots of injuries, loss to Canucks, and more

The New Jersey Devils came into Saturday’s game against the Vancouver Canucks off a comeback win over the Chicago Blackhawks. They are having some bad luck this season with the second half of back-to-back games so it was fair to worry. 

Early in the game, they were getting beat badly. They couldn’t control the puck and it was allowing the Canucks to dominate play. It eventually led to them having a 3-0 lead. 

Later in the game, however, they proved that they were not going to give up on the game no matter how tough things got. They scored a couple of quick goals to get within one. 

Down 3-2, however, the Devils folded back up and allowed two more Canucks goals. Being down 5-2 made it seem like the game was out of reach. 

Once again though, they showed their resilience in the third period and scored two more goals. They earned a power play late in the third but were unable to tie it while playing 6 on 5. It was a tough 6-4 loss (Vancouver hit an empty net) but they played hard until the end. 

The New Jersey Devils have a lot going on with their team right now

Injuries

Jack Hughes didn’t play against his brother Quinn and the Vancouver Canucks because of an injury he sustained against the Blackhawks one night prior. 

We don’t know the timeline of his injury in terms of how many games he’ll miss but it doesn’t sound like it is going to be too serious. They missed him in this game but the main thing is making sure that their all-star is okay. 

Before the game, the Devils put Timo Meier on the Injured Reserve. It is a move that is retroactive to 12/30 so he can come off at any time. Meier has had a lot go wrong for him this season so we can only hope he comes back better than ever. 

Ondrej Palat has also missed the last couple of games. There is no word on the length of his injury either but the Devils have certainly missed his veteran pretense. 

In the loss to Vancouver, Jonas Siegenthaler broke his foot. He defended on it for the rest of his shift (the Canucks ended up scoring) which is admirable but he dropped to the ice right when the play was over. 

Between Siegenthaler and Dougie Hamilton both being out long term, the depth is going to be tested. A lot of faith is going to be put into some very young players. 

Graeme Clarke

Graeme Clarke made his NHL debut on Saturday night against Vancouver. He was called up a few days ago and finally was able to debut. 

Clarke took 15 shifts for 9:32 of ice time. All of that came at even strength. He was credited with one hit and was +1 in the game. He didn’t score but he will still remember that game forever. 

Clarke was sent back to the Utica Comets so he could play in some games with a bigger role again. It may be a while before the Devils need him again.  

Next Up

The New Jersey Devils suddenly have four days off in between games. They enter Sunday still holding a playoff spot but that will change between now and their next game while they are idle. 

The Devils are back in action on Thursday when they take on the Tampa Bay Lightning at Amalie Arena.

The Bolts are one of the teams on the Eastern Conference bubble with the Devils right now. This would be a great time to grab another win and continue pushing to not even be on the bubble anymore.