UNIONDALE, NY -The Devils will take on the Islanders for the first time this season, a team that presents many problems to their opponents.
Devils Head Coach Lindy Ruff spoke with the media from the team hotel this afternoon and discussed what the team needs to do to have success against the Orange and Blue.
"I believe that we can't get frustrated there," said Ruff
"They're great in the shot lanes, they don't give you very many rush opportunities. So the game we have to play, it will be a patient game. They're great on the counter-attack. If you give them some turnovers inside their blue line, so it'll be important for us to make sure that we keep the puck in good areas."
KEEPING THE WORKHORSE FRESH
So far this season, only Mackenzie Blackwood has started in net for the Devils. And he's faced a ton of shots, including 50 against the Rangers on Tuesday night.
The Devils did not reveal their starter for tonight against the Islanders, but if it is Blackwood again, rest assured New Jersey is confident he can handle it after he carried himself in the first few games.
"We felt it was ideal for Mackenzie to get some work and he loves the workload," said Ruff. "He's a young goaltender. He relishes the opportunity to get in the net. So I think when we're looking at a schedule that all of a sudden you're playing back to back, and you've got four in six, that's the opportunity when we'd have to play another goaltender."
HELP IS ON THE WAY, DEAR!
Sorry for the Mrs. Doubtfire reference. Couldn't resist.
And Ruff couldn't resist sharing the good news this afternoon. Jesper Bratt is back in Jersey, work visa in hand, and doing the necessary quarantine before he can return to game action.
"We've got good news. Jesper is back in town," said Ruff. "So we've just got to get him through the quarantine process and get him up and running and to be ready to play for us again. So we did get a bit of good news there on his arrival."
Ruff says he has already been in contact with Bratt, one of the team's top forwards and offensive drivers.
"I have zoomed with Jesper and we have talked about how the team's playing, the different situations in the game, our offensive structure, neutral zone structure, and we've gone through clips, showed meetings. And, you know, after we put this game away tonight, I think tomorrow will be an opportunity to zoom with him again and go through this game.
"So we're trying to keep him up to speed. He's really excited about getting back and getting going. Obviously, missing time has hurt him. I think you've seen with our team that we've started to grow in a lot of situations. We've played some great periods of hockey. Probably the only period I haven't liked was the first period, but getting Jesper back in and getting him up and running and getting him full-go is first and foremost for us."
