The New Jersey Devils and Nashville Predators played a hockey game on Thursday night. No matter the outcome, the biggest headline coming out of this game is the fact that Jack Hughes didn’t finish the game.
Hughes got hurt in the first period. Nobody really knows what happened. We’ve seen some speculation it could be a lower-body injury, and it could always be an aggravation of his hand injury. As always, it could be a shoulder injury. Luke Hughes is dealing with a shoulder injury right now. Might as well take out both Hughes Brothers just for the fun (or lack thereof) of it.
We didn’t get an update on Hughes during the game. He did try to return and played one shift, but he went back to the locker room after that shift and never came back.
The Devils have already been without Hughes for 17 games after an injury at a team dinner. At least this injury happened in a hockey game, but it doesn’t really make it better. If Hughes is out for any amount of time, with the Devils so far out of the playoff race already, it might be time to face reality.
This is going to cause a lot of questions around Hughes as a superstar. He hasn't been able to stay healthy for a while.
Jack Hughes's latest injury is another bad situation for the New Jersey Devils
The good news is the Devils might have avoided the worst. After the game, Devils head coach Sheldon Keefe said he believes that Hughes avoided a serious injury. That's good news! Maybe the Devils were being cautious with their star player.
And Nico Hischier helped the Devils win the game with a glorious slapper in overtime. The Devils still got their two points without number 86.
Hughes is still out, and Cody Glass was injured in the Devils' last game against the Jets. They are running out of centers. Who is going to step up? Nobody knows, but it sounds like we’re going to have a lot more Luke Glendening in the lineup for the foreseeable future.