This break deemed very timely for the Devils who saw Andreas Johnsson and Jesper Bratt go down with injuries right before this pause from games. In the team's first practice back on Saturday afternoon, both Bratt and Johnsson were on the ice.
"(It was) a chance to get some guys healthy, a chance to get some guys some rest. But it was good to see we got everybody back for practice," Devils head coach Lindy Ruff said. "To get (Bratt and Johnsson) back should help our team."
"It's always nice to see players back (from injury)," Tatar said Saturday. "I think (Johnsson and Bratt) did great … they were sharp."
Ruff and his coaching staff have the opportunity to focus in on areas that need improvement with these practice days. Saturday's practice was an hour long and had very particular focus areas, as will Sunday's.
"You guard against it becoming a grind. We're trying to look at getting better every day," Ruff said. "With your first day (today) when you've had three days off, just trying to get the legs back under, do a lot of shooting drills, battle drills, just get the body ready to compete again. Focus being today on keeping people from our net, boxing people out. Tomorrow, we'll get more in detail with some special teams, some system work, and probably go a little shorter."
Having over a week off from games could seem like the perfect opportunity to hold practice the majority of the days, it's important to balance time on the ice and off, heading into a busy few months of the season.
"I think you fear sometimes you could over practice, could fatigue the team, fatigue some players, so we put together a schedule with our medical staff, and training staff, a schedule we feel will be advantageous to being fresh when we come out of this break."
