Haula Practices Tuesday | NOTEBOOK

The Devils are practicing Tuesday afternoon at Prudential Center. 

Stay tuned to the notebook for the latest info, updates, interviews, videos and more from the practice session!

Haula Practices

Devils forward Erik Haula joined his teammates on the ice for practice. He missed Sunday's game at Edmonton with an upper-body injury. He worked line rushes with Dawson Mercer and Alexander Holtz.

“It was good to see him back. We’ll see how he handles it and we’ll go from there,” head coach Lindy Ruff said. “For a first day back, just trying to evaluate where he’s at.”

For Haula, he’s dealt with a variety of injuries this season. He’s missed five games at different intervals on the year.

“It’s been an interesting year in a lot of ways personally,” Haula said. “But I never want to miss time. I try to do everything I can to get back out as soon as I can when I miss games. Hopefully, things start going away a little bit.”

Practice Details

All expected players were on the ice for practice, as well as Haula. However, forward Curtis Lazar left during special teams work and did not return.

He Said It:

Ruff on the power play: "Power play, a lot of times, just comes down to execution. It’s reading where that opportunity is. You talk about Luke walking right in, Jack walking right in. Early in the year those would have went in and we wouldn’t be talking about the power play."

Luke Hughes on Simon Nemec: “He’s my roommate right now on the road. He’s a funny guy. He’s a really good player, really good offensive instincts. He plays with confidence. It’s good to have him here. He’s making our team better.”

Simple D

The Devils returned home from their four-game road swing through the upper West Coast. The team finished the trip by winning three of the four games. And the greatest factor in that success was the cooperative team defense the club played.

“I think it went really well, three out of four and we played better as a team,” Haula said. “Team defense was better. We played simpler. I think it worked for us pretty well.”

The recent success was nice. Though the improved five-man defense can be sketched back even further.

“Look at our record the last eight, nine, 10 games, we’ve made a lot of progress,” Ruff said. “We just won three of four on the road. We played a strong defensive game in Edmonton. We’ve got our defensive game in a really good place and we’ve got to continue down that road.”

The Devils’ seemed very committed to the defensive structure during the road trip. Part of it was their “simpler” play. Haula was asked about the phenomenon on hockey of teams playing simpler on the road.

“It’s probably a little bit of a mindset more than anything,” he said. “You go on the road and you always talk about good road hockey. You don’t force stuff. Maybe you feel more comfortable at home, so you try things differently.”

Battle Bruin

The Devils will host the Boston Bruins Wednesday night at Prudential Center. It’ll be the first meeting between the two clubs, and first without long-time Bruin Patrice Bergeron. However, his legacy has continued.

“It’s part old their culture,” Ruff said. "It’s part of the culture Bergeron left with them, how you prepare every day, how you practice, good discipline. They’ve gotten real good goaltending.”

The Bruins have the top record in the Atlantic Division with 39 points on an 18-5-3 mark. And, as usual, they rank third in the NHL in defense with 2.50 goals-against per game.

“They have great leadership over there,” Haula said. “They just play the right way. They play very consistent game. They have top-end skill and great goaltending.”