Devils Practice Before Weekend Back-to-Back | NOTEBOOK

After a big 2-1 win over the New York Rangers the Devils were back to work on Friday. New Jersey held a practice before hitting the road for a weekend back-to-back that starts in Chicago and wraps in Winnipeg.
"We've maintained a high level of play on the road, I think the last couple of games, that play has slipped," Devils head coach Lindy Ruff shared following Friday's practice. "We got to get back to being that real good road team."

Today's Practice Coverage:

Interviews:
Bastian
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Bratt
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Lindy Ruff
Practice Report:
Focused on Friday
Feature:
Bahl's Development is On Display

Practice Updates

It was a packed practice with almost full attendance; however, Nico Hischier and Erik Haula were not on the ice due to maintenance days. The official practice only lasted about 20 minutes, but some players stayed on for an extra 10-15.

"No concern," said Devils head coach Lindy Ruff on Haula and Hischier missing practice. "I think you'll see players on different days (take maintenance days), depends on how they come out of games."
The Devils are coming off a huge 2-1 win against the Rangers on Thursday night at Prudential Center. The win kept the Rangers behind the Devils in the standings, now by four points, and helped New Jersey jump within one point of the Metro Division leading Carolina Hurricanes, who have a game in hand.
"I think we felt really confident throughout the whole game," Jesper Bratt said following practice. "I think we came out strong and I think we maintained that throughout the game. I feel like even if they got a little bit of a lucky bounce on the power play goal, I still feel like we had a very positive feeling as a group and we felt strong. I think everyone in this group played a really strong game, especially in the d-zone, Vanecek came up huge for us again, but I think our mindset was strong throughout the whole game."

Bastian's Progressing

Nathan Bastian is making progress towards returning to the lineup; however, he's not ready yet. Bastian continues to practice with the team and participated in Friday's on-ice activities.
"I feel pretty good," said Bastian."It's a little bit easier if you're able to just stay in the lineup, stay in a rhythm and that's kind of been tough for me this year. It's been stretches where I've been in and stretches where I've been out. This one, the idea was to get myself in as good of shape as possible to be available for game one of the playoffs. So now I feel pretty good."
"Health-wise I think he's getting very close to playing," Ruff shared Friday. "Really the ideal plan, we'll get him some games before the end of the year and be ready for play-offs. But it just depends, we'll just take it day-to-day."

Looking Ahead to the Weekend

The Devils face off against the Blackhawks Friday night, a team that is out of the playoff race, before facing the Jets who are desparately fighting to make the post-season. These are two unique challenges and difficult tests for the Devils.
"You're going to play a team that is out (of the playoffs)," Ruff shared about the upcoming Chicago game. "And another team that is right in the thick of it, desperate for points," Ruff continued about Winnipeg. "I think sometimes the teams that are out of it are dangerous. You can look around at some of the scores in games that, teams that need wins are losing those types of teams.
"They're loose, they can create opportunities, they can put a lot of risk in their game," Ruff said about the Blackhawks. "For us, it's trying to maintain a high level of play away from the puck, and not get sloppy."

Bringing More Physicality

When we think of hockey and players playing a physical game, it's easy to just think of big hits and fights; however, there's other ways players can contribute.
"A lot of it is what we call cut-offs, by getting in front of people and slowing them down," Ruff explained. "It's, if you have to go around me, that's going to take a good second or two. If I take a route where you get open ice, the speed of the game changes. They get to accelerate, we're trying to slow down the other team and a lot of the times that's cutting them off, bumping, just get a shoulder into their chest. Sometimes it's just getting your butt on the other guys hands."

In Case You Missed It:

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VIDEOS:
- REWIND: Devils Never Sleep - HIGHLIGHTS: Devils 2, Rangers 1 - COMMUNITY: Swiss Impact Award - DEVILS NOW: Wednesday's Productive Practice