Devils Practice For Final Week Before Olympic Break | NOTEBOOK

The Devils are practicing at the RWJBarnabas Health Hockey House inside Prudential Center on Monday afternoon. The team has two final home games this week before the start of the Olympic break.

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

Practice Info

The Devils are on the ice for practice Monday afternoon. Center Jack Hughes (lower-body) is not practicing with the team, though he did skate after the practice session had ended.

"The fact that he went out after is more indicative that he and the medical team were happy with how his physio and such went throughout the day today, so they wanted to go for a spin," head coach Sheldon Keefe said. "I haven't been able to talk to them yet to get an assessment of what that means going forward. But it's obviously positive. Whether he's available tomorrow or not is very much up in the air still, but it's obviously a positive step."

Some of the Olympians are working to break in their Olympic gear, including goalie Jacob Markstrom, forwards Nico Hischier and Jesper Bratt and defenseman Simon Nemec.

Judging from the workflow, Evgenii Dadonov may be scratched in favor of Juho Lammikko Tuesday night when the Devils host the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Playoff Hockey in February?

The Devils are well aware of their current circumstances. They sit in the second-to-last spot in the Eastern Conference with 58 points. They are seven points behind the New York Islanders for the third spot in the Metro Division and nine points behind Buffalo for the final Wild Card position.

The Devils have a steep hill to climb to get back into the playoffs. With two games remaining before the Olympic break and considering the Devils’ current state, these next two games are proverbial “must wins.”

“There’s a sense of urgency,” forward Connor Brown said. “The other side of the coin, it’s important for both teams. This is going to be a competitive week. We have to be ready to go going into the break.”

"Our team, as a group, understand that we’re not even close remotely to where we want to be," defenseman Brenden Dillon said. "It will be a good test for us to see the desperation that we need to have. The importance of the games."

Making the task even more daunting is that the Devils will play Columbus and the Islanders. Both teams are ahead of the Devils in the standings. So, for the Devils, winning is one thing, but to really make up some ground, they’ll have to win in regulation.

“They’re all very important points,” Brown said. “These are four very huge points going into the break. They’re two divisional opponents, they’re extra important. We have to be ready to go and make sure we execute our plan.”

Winning two games in regulation will be a task, and that’s before taking into account that Columbus has gone 9-1-0 in their last 10 games and the Islanders are 3-1 in their last four games and beat the Devils 9-0 on Long Island on Jan. 6.

“Two interdivision opponents, two teams that we should be excited to play against, have the opportunity to play against,” Dillon said. “Two of the best teams in the league over the last couple weeks. Columbus is 8-1 under (new head coach Rick Bowness) and the Islanders, that last time we played them didn’t go so good.”

The Devils didn’t expect their season to come down to a two-game stretch in early February, but this is the situation in which they find themselves.

“We don’t think we’re out of it. We still believe we’re a good team,” Brown said. “We’re a team that can go on a run; we showed it earlier this year.”

Earlier this year the Devils rattled off eight-straight wins as they marched to the top of the NHL standings. They’ll need a similar run to really get back into the playoff mix.

“We had rhythm (in that winning streak). That was the biggest thing,” Brown said. “In my career, a good team can be great with a bit of rhythm. That’s what we have to find here, just to be ablet o get in sync. It’s not easy with guys coming in and out of the lineup and changes. Those things affect rhythm and that’s what we ran into after that eight-game winning streak.

“If this team can get in a groove, play with some rhythm and be consistent, I think we can go on a run. I don’ t think anything is impossible here.”

Kill! Kill! Kill!

The Devils PK had an off night at Ottawa on Saturday, surrendering two goals in what was the difference in the game. But the unit had killed 17 straight prior to that game.

“We have confidence,” Dillon said. “For us killers, we feel really strong, really confident in what we can do. We feel when we go out there, we’re going to be game changers, momentum changers.”

Early in the season, the Devils PK was one of their biggest strengths. The unit went 26 for 27 during the eight-game winning streak and was among the best in the NHL. But there’s been a noticeable dip in the middle portion of the season that team had to correct.

“It’s been a bit of a rollercoaster with the PK,” Dillon said. “We started the year off real well, we were top 5. We wanted to build on it from last year, finishing second in the league. A lot of the same guys coming back, we just wanted to build on that.

“We had a tough stretch. We kind of having it going on the right track.”

For the Devils to get back into a playoff mix, their PK will be more important than at any other juncture of the season.

As Dillon put it: “All in all, we just need to find a way no matter what it takes – an extra blocked shot, extra chatter – to get the job done.”

He Said It:

Keefe on avoiding frustration: "I’ve always believed the frustration is a useless emotion. On my side you have to focus on the process and the result, and if it doesn’t go your way you have to move on and get ready for the next one."