Devils Gifted Ondrej Palat at Practice Amidst Holiday Season | NOTEBOOK

The best holiday present the Devils received this year did not come gift-wrapped.
It came in the form of a number 18 jersey being pulled over Ondrej Palat's head, over his full equipment, his skates done up and ready.
For the first time since October, Palat was able to join his teammate for a full practice as the club returned from a three-day holiday break.

The Next Step

It has been a long time coming, the return of Ondrej Palat, and while he's not quite ready to play yet, on Tuesday he was able to participate in his first practice since his groin injury and subsequent surgery in October. Palat was a full participant, although when it came to line rushes, he is being used as an extra, with the team still preparing for tomorrow's game against the Boston Bruins.
"It's a great first step back," Lindy Ruff said, "You know, getting in part of the drills, used to the pace of the play. I think he's probably happy to finally get out with the group instead of skating on his own. It's just a day-to-day, I know he's excited about getting back out, it'll be a short period and he'll be back."
As much as a near return of a player of Palat's caliber is exciting for a coaching staff, his teammates share an equal delight in having him back.
"It's good, he's a huge player for our team," Jonas Siegenthaler said, "It's nice to see him skating with our team. It's all smiles out there."

Speaking of smiles, Nico Hischier wouldn't wipe his off his face when he was asked about his stallmate Palat being back at practice. For the first time in a long time, Hischier had Palat directly to his left at the same time he was there. When Palat was working his way back to practice, he would be done his work well before the main team and the stall would sit empty. That is no longer.
"Just great, I mean, it's great to see him, just happy to see him out there," Hischier said through his grin, "He brings a lot, he's won it all. He knows exactly what you need to do, in certain games, in certain stretches. He is definitely just a big part of our group, we're happy to have him back because he's a guy that a lot of people look up to and do what he says. That's why we brought him in. He's obviously just a great leader for us."

Them, Again

The Christmas holiday is bookended between two games at Prudential Center against the Boston Bruins. On Dec. 23, the Devils lost to the Bruins 4-3, a game that left a sour taste heading into the holiday. Tomorrow night they will have a chance to rectify that loss with a big performance once again against the Bruins.
"We are definitely motivated for that game, that we can play them again that soon," Hischier said, "We've got to be ready, that's one hundred percent sure because we knew from last game when you take off time from them, one period, they can score goals. That's definitely our main focus, that we play a 60-minute Devils hockey game."

The List

Where once the Devils were riding a streak of immense health things have changed in the last few weeks with players sustaining injuries. Ondrej Palat is close to his return, but the blueline has now taken a bit of a hit. Today Lindy Ruff shared that Ryan Graves (lower-body) is considered week-to-week after seeing doctors on Dec. 23.
Here's a quick breakdown of the injuries the Devils are currently managing:
John Marino (upper-body) - Week-to-Week
Ryan Graves (lower-body) - Week-to-Week
Nathan Bastian (upper-body) - Indefinite
Jonathan Bernier (lower-body) - LTIR
Ondrej Palat(groin)

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