NEW JERSEY DEVILS (13-7-1) vs. RED WINGS (13-8-1)

New Jersey is back at home after a five-game road trip to host the Detroit Red Wings at Prudential Center.

Read below for your game preview presented by Training Innovations and check back for the pre-game story.

NEWARK, NJ. - The Devils held a morning skate at Prudential Center ahead of hosting the Detroit Red Wings.

Center Cody Glass (upper-body) joined the team for the session and will return to the lineup after missing the previous four games.

“I’m back and dodged a bullet,” Glass said. “The original planning was different. Then we got some good news throughout the process. It just kept healing and getting better and better and got to a point where I can play again. So, I’m happy about that.”

Center Juho Lammikko did work with the extras.

The Devils also appear to be making a lineup change on defense as Colton White took reps in the workflow while Dennis Cholowski worked with the extras.

"The games White has played, he's played a real efficient game," head coach Sheldon Keefe said. "He's been solid defensively. And since he's left we've been a little more chaotic. It's not just on his presence in or out, but he helps solidify that. He plays a very calm, relaxed, very mature game."

The lineup looked as such:

Trickle Down

With Glass in the lineup, the Devils have more balance down the middle with Nico Hischier, Dawson Mercer, Glass and Luke Glendening. And Glass adds another defensively responsible pivot to help shoulder some load to free up Hischier’s line, which typically handles the bulk of the defensive duties.

“It makes a significant difference,” Keefe said. “He needs to come in and play well, play fast, play hard and get comfortable early.”

Cleaning the Rush

The Devils have been an inconsistent team this season. At times, looking like the best club in the league. At others, struggling to find success.

Keefe keyed in on one area in particular that needs to be cleaned up for the team to be better on the consistency front.

“It’s the rush,” he said. “The free chances, the breakaways. You can’t give that stuff up. We had four breakaways (against Philadelphia). You look at any of the games where we’ve been real bad and it’s gotten away from us, that has been the issue. When we don’t give that up, we’re pretty buttoned up on other areas of our game, and we’ve been as good a defensive team as there is in the league.

“It’s that level of consistency that we need to find. That’s been the messaging. It’ll continue to be the messaging. And we have got to get it right. In search of more offense, you cannot give up the big chance against.”

Home Cooking

After a grueling five-game road trip, the Devils return home to play six of their next seven in Prudential Center.

“We’ve been really comfortable at home this year,” defenseman Brenden Dillon said. “It’s been a focus since training camp to be good in this building in front of our fans.”

The Devils are 7-0-1 at home on the year.

THE SCOOP

The New Jersey Devils and Detroit Red Wings are neck-and-neck in the Eastern Conference standings. Both teams have 27 points, with Detroit having played one more game than New Jersey. The two clubs both have 13 wins this season.

The Devils are coming off their most difficult stretch of the season, going 2-3-0 on their season-long five-game road trip. New Jersey posted wins on the first half, with victories in Chicago and Washington, before dropping three straight against the Lightning, Panthers and Flyers. Without their star forward, Jack Hughes (finger surgery), the club has had a hard time generating offense. In the latter half of their road trip, the Devils scored just four goals in three games, three of them on Saturday night in a 6-3 loss to Philadelphia. Their shutout loss to the Panthers was the first time this season the Devils had been shut out.

The game against Detroit opens a stretch where the Devils will play their next six of seven at home, the lone away game on Friday afternoon in Buffalo. New Jersey will host the Red Wings, Blues, Flyers, Blue Jackets, Stars and Golden Knights over the next two weeks.

Detroit is sitting in first place in the Atlantic Division with a 13-8-1 record, and their captain Dylan Larkin does the heavy lifting, leading the club in goals (12) and points (24). The Red Wings are off to a promising start and certainly showing signs of having turned the corner from some leaner years to being a team on the rise.

The Red Wings are coming off a 4-3 overtime victory against Columbus, where they rallied to erase a two-goal deficit in the third period. Alex DeBrincat scored at 1:50 of overtime to close out Detroit’s 3-game homestand.

On special teams, the Red Wings are ranked in the middle of the pack on both the power play and the penalty kill. Their man-advantage is ranked 15th (20.8 percent) while their penalty kill is ranked 14th (81 percent).

WHO’S HOT

Devils: With a three-point night against the Flyers, Jesper Bratt now has five points, all assists, in his last five games.

Red Wings: Lucas Raymond has three goals and five points in his last four games and eight points (3g-5a) in his past five games.

INJURIES

Devils:
J. Hughes (finger)
Glass (upper-body)
MacEwen (undisclosed)
Pesce (upper-body)
Kovacevic (knee)
McLaughlin (undisclosed)

Red Wings:

Soderblom (undisclosed, IR)
Edvinsson (undisclosed)

REGULAR-SEASON RESULTS

• Nov. 24 vs Detroit
• Mar. 8 vs. Detroit
• April 11 at Detroit

GAME NOTES

• Nico Hischier's multi-point game against the Flyers moved him past Bobby Holik for 10th all-time in franchise history with his 101st multi-point game.

• Simon Nemec’s 13 points (4g-9a) lead all Devils blueliners this season.

• Detroit's win against Columbus was its first multigoal, third-period comeback win since Dec. 9, 2024.