BOSTON, MA - The Devils may not have gotten the win against the Edmonton Oilers in their last outing but there were a lot of things they can build off of. It was a much more structured game for New Jersey and they now hope their development can lead to a win tonight in Boston.
"I think we played a team game all the way through," said Devils defenseman Will Butcher. "I think we did a lot of things that we wanted to improve on but then kept doing the things that we've been doing well for the year. I think that's what we need to keep doing to have success."
The Bruins went 3-1-0 on their season-opening road trip and they've shown they're one of the league's biggest challenges at the moment.
"Boston, obviously they're coming off good road trip, and they have a really good team and one of the best teams in the league so excited for the challenge tonight," said Devils Head Coach John Hynes.
PLAYING WITHOUT GREENE
Devils captain Andy Greene was placed on IR, retroactive to Oct. 9, yesterday and it's quite a hole to fill. Greene is such a steady and calming presence on the back end but without him in the lineup again tonight, it's another opportunity for younger defenders to step up.
"I think he's such a leader and just the way he plays, he plays hard every game and every shift. You kind of look at that as inspiration to get your team going," said Butcher. "At the same time, we've got a lot of leaders on this group and on this team you know will step up and fill that void while he's out. It's a big loss for us. But we have guys and the character in this room that we can fill it while he's gone for a little bit."
There was no update on Greene after today's morning skate, but Hynes says the club will learn more after another day off for him tonight.
NO BOQVIST TONIGHT
Expectations are high for Devils prospect Jesper Boqvist, but the young forward has only played in one game so far this season. There's no doubt he'll get an opportunity, but barring any changes he is not slated to play in Boston as the team wants to roll with the same lineup as the one that battled Edmonton.
"There's nothing more we need to see from him, we're going to work him in," said Hynes. "We've got a lot of games, we've got a lot of games in this week. We've got a busy week coming up too and he's going to be a guy we're going to look to be able to get in. The other night, we felt like we had a pretty strong game against Edmonton, five on five and we could get a little bit of stability with that group and give this group another chance to be able to play. Boqvist is a good player and he'll find his way in for sure."
The Devils lines during morning skate were as follows:
Hall-Hischier-Palmieri
Wood-Zajac-Coleman
Zacha-Hughes-Simmonds
Gusev-Rooney-Bratt
Severson-Subban
Butcher-Vatanen
Mueller-Carrick
Cory Schneider is the expected starter for the Devils between the pipes.
-- Chris Wescott, NewJerseyDevils.com
