Ruff Back in the Fold | BLOG

Devils head coach Lindy Ruff is back with the team following a five-day hiatus due to the NHL's COVID-19 protocol.
"It does feel good. It's frustrating watching from home," he admitted. "I stayed in pretty close contact with the games, staying on Zoom. I thought the team did a great job."
Ruff, who experienced "minimal symptoms," was still very much involved with his team. He was on Zoom for every meeting, was on headset with coaches during games and communicated at every aspect with his coaching staff.
"We really needed to make a lot of adjustments from game to game," Ruff said. "It was a constant interaction before games, in between periods, there was some interaction with upstairs during periods to try to help out. I tried to do whatever I could to help make a difference."

With Ruff's absence, the coaching staff had to make a lot of adjustments. Alain Nasreddine took the lead on the "head coaching duties," while also working with Mark Recchi in overseeing the forward group. Chris Taylor came down from the press box and was on the bench working with the defensive corps.
"The way that the coaches all handled that situation, they did a great job," Ruff said.
The players helped as well. The team went on a three-game winning (the first of which still had Ruff behind the bench).
The Devils nearly went a perfect 3-0 without Ruff, however, they were forced to play Tuesday at Boston without captain Nico Hischier (lower-body), defenseman Dougie Hamilton (broken jaw) and forwards Yegor Sharangovich and Pavel Zacha due to COVID-19 protocols. They overcame deficits of 1-0, 2-1 and 3-2 before falling 5-3.
"It's a team that doesn't quit, and didn't quit playing," Ruff said. "We had some disappointing plays in games that forced a couple games into overtime, but ended up winning a couple games in overtime, fought hard to get back into the game (Tuesday at Boston) with the news of losing (four) important players. I think the way we approached the game gave us a chance to have an opportunity to pick up points."