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New Jersey Devils: Injury Bug Immediately Hits Steve Santini

By Nick Villano

BERN, SWITZERLAND - OCTOBER 01: #16 Steven Santini of New Jersey Devils skates during the NHL Global Series Challenge Switzerland 2018 match between SC Bern and New Jersey Devils at PostFinance Arena on October 1, 2018 in Bern, Switzerland. (Photo by Robert Hradil/NHLI via Getty Images)
BERN, SWITZERLAND - OCTOBER 01: #16 Steven Santini of New Jersey Devils skates during the NHL Global Series Challenge Switzerland 2018 match between SC Bern and New Jersey Devils at PostFinance Arena on October 1, 2018 in Bern, Switzerland. (Photo by Robert Hradil/NHLI via Getty Images) /
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New Jersey Devils defenseman Steve Santini was forced to leave Saturday’s matchup with the Philadelphia Flyers after he was hit by a puck to the face. He will likely miss at least a few weeks.

It’s been a rough week for the New Jersey Devils. Not only did that go 1-2 for their first two losses of the season, but players are falling off left and right. Will Butcher was hurt in the game against the Dallas Stars on Tuesday, but luckily came out unscathed in the long run. The same cannot be said for Travis Zajac and Ben Lovejoy, both having to miss the game against the Philadelphia Flyers. Then, in that game, defenseman Steve Santini became the latest victim.

https://twitter.com/NJviDs/status/1053706694881095681

As you can see, Santini gets hit straight in the face by a puck off the stick of Michael Raffl. It was the least ideal situation, as the Devils had to play the remaining 52 minutes with only five defensemen. This forced every single Devils defenseman to play more than 20 minutes, including 23 from Andy Greene. This caused him to make a bad decision at the end of the game, and too tired to make up for it.

The move had ramifications beyond just this game. Santini was diagnosed with a broken jaw. As we’ve seen with Jesper Bratt, a broken jaw will likely keep him out a few weeks. If it wasn’t a clean break, it could be longer.

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This is bad timing for the Devils. Eric Gryba was just sent to Binghamton, and as we said before Lovejoy is out of the lineup. This likely means Gryba will be returning to the NHL club after one game in Binghamton, and could even slot in the lineup immediately. It all depends on Lovejoy’s health.

Santini’s injury really stings. After just two minutes of ice time in his first game since January, he’s now out for a few weeks at least. He did make a major mistake with an errant pass that led to a full minute of pressure from the Flyers, but he was likely going to work through some mistakes.

Santini will likely head to injured reserve on Sunday, which will make room for a player on the roster. With Rooney getting sent down to Binghamton, that leaves two spots open. It all depends on the status of Zajac and Lovejoy for who they call up, but either way one must feel terrible for Santini. After waiting patiently for his chance to prove himself, now he must sit on the shelf once again.

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