Devils put through tough practice Monday after back-to-back losses

Newark, NJ -On Saturday afternoon, after the Devils posted their second consecutive loss of the season, Devils head coach John Hynes promised that his team would be a "different one" when they take to the ice against the Predators on Thursday night.

"We worked a lot on line changes, being mentally engaged throughout the practice and not taking time off," Hynes said after an intense practice on Monday. "The other part too is conditioning of getting ourselves up and staying on pucks, going drill-to-drill and not losing focus or our intensity. That's something that we had coming out of training camp and I think it's gotten away from us a little bit. If we can follow up [Tuesday] and Wednesday like we did today, then we should be a better team going into the weekend."

Hynes had his New Jersey Devils strap on their work boots Monday morning during their first practice since Saturday's loss to the Flyers. It was back to basics. No line combinations, no defensive pairings, but instead intense drills, very little recovery time and a locked in mentality. Add to that, skating laps for the final twelve minutes and the message becomes crystal clear.
"We kind of got away the last few games from our game," forward Marcus Johansson said. "This is what we did when we played well. This is what it's about, some days you have to come in and you have to go to work and you have to grind through it. That's what we all did today. We're going to make sure we're ready to play this way when the next game comes up."
Of the final twelve minutes being devoted to laps, Johansson said: "We did that all during camp, and last year too. It's just going to work, it's not the most fun part but in the end, it's going to be worth it."

The Devils, as a group, know they have to play better than the level at which they did against the Flyers and Avalanche. While Hynes wants to see more of his players, he and his coaching staff shoulder some of the responsibility as well.
"We have to do a better job as coaches," Hynes said. "We looked in the mirror yesterday and had one of those types of days today and showed some pointed video clips to the players of the mental things we know we should do and they haven't done. And then it's on the players to get up and go. They've got to show up to the games ready to play."
The Devils next game is Thursday, at home against the Nashville Predators.
Prior to practice, both injured forwards Travis Zajac and Jesper Bratt skated on their own. Injured defenseman Ben Lovejoy did not. Forward Kevin Rooney and defenseman Yegor Yakovlev were both called up from Binghamton Monday morning and participated in practice. Meanwhile, goaltender Cory Schneider remains on a conditioning stint with the Binghamton Devils where he is expected to play again on Wednesday night.