Devils Hit the Road | NOTEBOOK

New Jersey practices Monday afternoon at the RWJ Barnabas Health Hockey House inside Prudential Center before flying to Raleigh, North Carolina. The team begins a quick two-game, back-to-back road swing to Carolina and Florida.
Check below for the latest news, updates and snippets from the Devils' practice!

Blackwood's Back All Right

The Devils recalled goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood from Utica of the American Hockey League. He joined the team for practice.
Blackwood has been in Utica on a conditioning stint. He played in two games. In his most recent contest against Bridgeport he stopped 31 of 33 shots in a 5-2 victory.

"The reports are he knocked some rust off in the first game and played really well in the second game," coach Lindy Ruff said. "It's great to get him a couple of games and get him back here playing."
"It was good for me. Great group there, coaches and the players are awesome, really welcoming," Blackwood said of his stint. "I got a lot of reps down there. Got my own net for a couple days, got some games. It definitely helped get me back."
Blackwood has been out with a knee injury since Nov. 3. With the Devils playing back-to-back road games against Carolina (Tuesday) and Florida (Wednesday), it's likely that Blackwood will start in one of those contests.
"I'm happy to be back. I'm exciting to get into some games up here and keep building," Blackwood said. "I'm just ha
ppy to be healthy again, practicing with the team and ready to start playing some games again."With Blackwood removed from Injured Reserve and available to play, the Devils assigned goalie Akira Schmid to Utica. Schmid went 5-3-0 with a 1.96 goals-against average and .932 save percentage.
"He showed real well," Ruff said of Schmid. "He helped get victories that we won. He made key saves. He stepped into a game late in Ottawa and played really well. a great step for him. He should use that as a springboard, go down and continue to play the way he's played."

Workflow

Defenseman Damon Severson, who was a healthy scratch against Florida on Saturday, worked with his regular D-man Brendan Smith.

The Devils are looking to snap their 0-4-1 skid. And they addressed some of the issues that have been hampering them at Monday's practice.
"We worked hard on the down low compete and creating opportunities off of that," Ruff said. "We talked a lot about that communication with two D going back. We gave up two goals off of our possession, one with a goalie interchange. Worked on that area of the game."

Bahl-in

Devils defenseman Kevin Bahl got himself back in the lineup against Florida, playing 11:02 minutes of ice time. He spoke with the media about his game.

He Said It

Miles Wood: "We need to snap this five-game streak that we're on. We need to bounce back with a win. (Tuesday) should be a great test. (Carolina is) a great team. They're right behind us. It should be good."

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