The New Jersey Devils are headed to Western New York to take on the Buffalo Sabres. Their stud rookie Jack Hughes is missing the trip.
The New Jersey Devils are in Western New York tonight to take on the Buffalo Sabres in the first half of a back to back. They traveled without their stud rookie Jack Hughes. This will obviously hurt because of what Hughes brings to the team in the offensive zone with his speed, vision, and playmaking ability. It was also apparent in their last game that they miss him on the power play as well.
Hughes isn’t overwhelming people with his scoring yet, but he’s getting the chances. He gets more and more dynamic every single game. Hughes has four goals and seven assists for 11 points in 24 games so far this year. Those aren’t terrible by any means, but they are definitely going to start coming in bunches really soon. He is showing the ability to drive a line and create chances for himself and his teammates. This is a special player.
The show must go on as the Devils still need to play the game in Buffalo. That is going to be a hard task without Hughes but they need to be better than they were without him on Saturday against the New York Rangers. The Sabres are a bubble team as we stand at 12-10-5. They have playoff aspirations but they are definitely going to have to work for it.
Obviously, Jack Eichel is the player of interest for the Buffalo Sabres. He is their captain and best player so the Devils need to make sure that they are on top of him. Nico Hischier and Travis Zajac figure to see a lot of Eichel and his line. They are without their stud young defenseman in Rasmus Dahlin who is on Injured Reserve with a concussion. That is a big loss for the Sabres as he has 16 points in 24 games from the blue line.
Their loss to the Rangers on Saturday was demoralizing and frustrating but they need to get back on the horse and try again. This time they are on the road so they can just focus on hockey. If they get a big win they can carry some momentum back home but it certainly won’t be easy. The Devils are in a desperate need of some changes but until that happens they need to just bring all they have to each and every game.