The New Jersey Devils are coming off a shootout win over the Vegas Golden Knights where they needed Jake Allen to steal the show. He dominated in net, with his only blemish coming after a pretty rough penalty call late in the third period of a 1-0 game. He was nails in overtime, helping the Devils overcome a 4-on-3 overtime penalty kill to win in the shootout. Allen was even perfect in the shootout, getting the tying goal waved off after Mitch Marner kicked into the net.
There have been way too many games with just one or fewer goal scored for the Devils. In five of their last eight games, the Devils have scored one or zero goals. That’s a TERRIBLE stretch (not including the goal the Devils were credited for their shootout win). No team is going to win when they score at such a putrid rate.
The Devils are starting to get pieces back, but the offense hasn’t found its finisher. Brett Pesce finally returned on Wednesday, and the defense looked as good as it has in a long time. That means the Devils are down to just seven injuries to their lineup regulars.
The most important of those injuries is the one to Jack Hughes. Hughes has been out for just over a month after suffering a hand injury at a team dinner. Right after the injury when the Devils announced an eight-week timeline, ESPN’s Emily Kaplan had the most positive prognosis on his return possibilities, saying a return around the Christmas Break was possible.
Now, she’s confirming that report, weeks later.
Jack Hughes could be back on the ice sooner rather than later
On Thursday’s episode of “The Point,” Kaplan said that Hughes has a doctor’s appointment next week, and if all goes well, then we could see Hughes return to the ice soon after that. She thinks it likely won’t extend into January. To be more clear, this report says that Hughes’s return date is in December.
With Timo Meier also out dealing with a personal situation, Hughes’s return is way too important. Someone on this team needs to score goals. Hughes will do that in bunches. Hopefully, this report is true and the Devils get their star back next week.