Devils Eye Crucial Pre-Break Clash as Injuries, Illness Test Depth and Resolve
The New Jersey Devils hit the ice Wednesday afternoon for their final practice before the Olympic break, and the mood inside RWJBarnabas Health Hockey House was focused, if a little tense. With a pivotal game against the New York Islanders looming on Thursday-and a three-week pause in the schedule right after-it’s not just another midseason skate. This one carries weight.
Missing Key Pieces
New Jersey practiced without three key forwards: Jack Hughes, Nico Hischier, and Connor Brown. That’s a lot of firepower and leadership off the ice, and head coach Sheldon Keefe confirmed that only one of the trio will be back in action for Thursday’s must-win game.
Let’s start with Hughes. The dynamic center is still sidelined and won’t suit up against the Islanders. According to Keefe, the medical team isn’t ready to clear him.
“Jack has not improved enough to the point where our medical team will let him get out there,” Keefe said. “He’s not going to be available tomorrow.”
That’s a tough blow for a team already struggling to generate consistent offense.
Captain Nico Hischier, meanwhile, is battling through an illness that’s taken a real toll. Keefe revealed that Hischier has dropped 10 pounds during the recovery process, which explains the decision to keep him off the ice Wednesday. Still, the captain is expected to play Thursday.
“Nico is still recovering from the illness that he had. It hit him pretty hard,” Keefe said. “We felt keeping him off the ice was a prudent thing to do to let him build himself back up.”
Connor Brown also sat out practice, but his absence was more precautionary. Keefe said Brown “needed the day” but will be in the lineup Thursday.
A Look at the Lines
With Hughes, Hischier, and Brown not skating, Wednesday’s forward lines featured some shuffling. Patrick McLaughlin slotted into what appeared to be Hischier’s usual spot, likely as a placeholder. All seven defensemen rotated through drills, so no fixed pairings emerged during the session.
This kind of lineup juggling isn’t ideal, especially heading into a game with serious postseason implications. But it’s also a chance for role players to step up and show they can handle more responsibility when the team needs it most.
High Stakes, No Hiding
Let’s not sugarcoat it: the Devils are in a tough spot. With 58 points through 56 games (28-26-2), they sit nine points behind the final playoff spot in the Metropolitan Division and 10 points back of the last Wild Card berth.
And the team standing directly in their path? The New York Islanders-Thursday night’s opponent at Prudential Center.
This isn’t just another regular-season game. It’s a gut-check moment.
“You have to look at it with a realistic lens. It hasn’t gone the way we wanted this year, no question,” veteran goaltender Jake Allen said.
“There’s nothing we can do about that now. Sometimes you need to change your behaviors a little bit to adapt to where we are.”
Allen’s message was clear: Thursday is about mindset. Not the standings.
Not the break. Just 60 minutes of focused, determined hockey.
“Today is about your mindset at practice. Tomorrow it’ll be your mindset in the morning and your mindset at night,” he said.
“Between those hours you can do whatever the heck you want to do, but it’s just about trying to bring it. We’ll see where that takes us tomorrow.”
Looking Ahead, but Not Too Far
After Thursday, the Devils will get a much-needed reset during the Olympic break. But Allen emphasized that it won’t be a full-on vacation. The team knows they’ll need to ramp back up well before the schedule resumes on February 25.
“Halfway through that break you have to start getting the wheels kicking again,” Allen said. “You can’t expect to come back here and turn the lights on and go out and do it again, especially with the importance of our schedule.”
The Devils are clinging to belief, even if the math isn’t in their favor. There’s still a quarter of the season left. There’s still time-if they can find another gear.
“It’s disappointing. A lot of us have been on teams with high expectations and haven’t met them,” Allen admitted.
“We still believe in this group and where we can get to in the last quarter. But at the same time, it’s coming in with your own individual standards first.”
Searching for Offense
Keefe didn’t mince words when asked about what’s been holding the team back.
“We’ve been so pedestrian offensively. That’s it.
That would be the biggest area,” he said. “The system hasn’t changed.
The structure hasn’t changed.”
The numbers back him up. The Devils are converting scoring chances at the lowest rate in the league. That’s not just a stat-it’s a confidence killer.
“That compounds itself into lack of confidence and now your team is chasing it,” Keefe explained. “That’s unfortunately where we’re at.
It doesn’t do us any good to dwell on that. The message today at practice was: let’s get better today and leave here feeling better than we do now.”
One Game, Then a Reset
Thursday’s game won’t mathematically eliminate the Devils from playoff contention. But make no mistake-it’s a defining moment.
Win, and there’s a pulse heading into the break. Lose, and the climb back becomes Everest.
For now, the focus is narrow. One game. One opportunity to shift the narrative before the league hits pause.
And as Jake Allen put it best, “We obviously understand the importance of the game. It starts with our behaviors and our mentality. It’s just tomorrow.”
Let’s see what tomorrow brings.