Evangelista Ready as Devils Practice Monday | NOTEBOOK

After a weekend game in Washington and a day off Sunday, the Devils were back practicing at RWJBarnabas Health Hockey House on Monday morning. 

Read the notebook for the latest info, updates, interviews, videos and more from the practice session!

Monday Updates

After playing five games in eight days, the Devils finally had an opportunity to spend some meaningful time on the practice ice Monday.

New Jersey returned to RWJBarnabas Health Hockey House following Saturday's 4-2 loss in Washington and a scheduled day off Sunday, with the Colorado Avalanche awaiting Tuesday night at Prudential Center.

There was encouraging news on the health front, some difficult lineup decisions and a clear emphasis on the areas of the Devils' game that need improvement.

Here's the latest from Monday's practice.

Evangelista Ready to Return

Luke Evangelista is feeling like himself again.

After an illness kept him out of three games and limited him in another, the Devils forward is ready to return to the lineup Tuesday against Colorado.

"I feel good now," Evangelista said following Monday's practice. "Obviously not ideal, especially that early in the season. Kind of breaks up the momentum a little bit, but some of those things are just kind of out of your control."

The illness came at an especially difficult time, interrupting Evangelista's start with his new team during one of the busiest stretches of the early season.

Keefe noted that with so many games packed into a short period, even a brief absence can feel considerably longer.

"It's tough to be stalled. It's tough to have an illness that can beat you down pretty good," Keefe said. "In such a busy week for us as well. All of a sudden he's missed half the season that we've played here so far."

Although Evangelista believes he could have pushed himself to return sooner, he and the coaching staff agreed that taking additional time to recover was the better approach.

"I think at this point, we had healthy bodies. We had a full lineup of healthy guys, and it didn't hurt to take the extra day or two just to kind of get the energy levels back up and just kind of get back to 100%," Evangelista explained.

The time away also provided an opportunity to study his new teammates from a different perspective.

Evangelista watched the Devils' victories over Detroit and the Rangers, along with Saturday's loss in Washington, paying particular attention to the team's structure and the differences in how New Jersey approached each game.

"Watching from the stands and just watching from at home, it's definitely a different point of view," he said. "You're kind of seeing the game a little bit different."

Now, the focus returns to playing.

"He feels good. Talked to him, looked good in practice, and I expect him to give us a little push tomorrow," Keefe said.

Mantha, Glass and Bratt Updates

The Devils are also monitoring the status of several other forwards heading into Tuesday's game.

Anthony Mantha missed Monday's practice due to illness, leaving his availability against Colorado uncertain.

"Mantha's sick today," Keefe said. "We'll just have to see where he's at going into tomorrow, so we won't know that until that time."

Cody Glass and Jesper Bratt were also absent from the full team practice, although both are expected to be available Tuesday.

Glass continues to manage an issue for which additional rest has been beneficial, while Bratt is dealing with a nagging issue that has required the team to manage his practice workload.

Bratt skated separately before the team's session Monday.

"He did skate today, just beforehand on his own, in more of a controlled environment, and we expect him to be available tomorrow as well," Keefe said.

Back to the Details

Monday's practice looked a little different than a typical session.

Rather than running through line combinations and defensive pairings, Keefe and his staff concentrated on individual habits, puck battles and the details required to improve the team's defensive play.

The approach followed Saturday's loss in Washington, when the Devils struggled to establish the same defensive structure that had contributed to their convincing 7-1 victory over the Rangers two days earlier.

"We got to get better in that area. There's no question," Keefe said.

With Bratt, Mantha and Glass absent from practice, the Devils also had fewer forwards available, contributing to the decision to move away from traditional line rushes.

"We just decided that we're going to do very little in terms of team structure and line rushes and stuff like that, but more so on the individual habits and details inside of all the structured pieces where we got to get better," Keefe explained.

The timing was also important.

New Jersey had limited opportunities to practice during its recent stretch of five games in eight days. Even when the team did get on the ice, recovery and preparation for the next game took priority.

Monday offered a chance to reinforce habits that can sometimes get overlooked during a demanding schedule.

Evangelista, who watched Saturday's game from home, believes the difference between the Devils' performances against New York and Washington provides an important lesson.

"I thought the Ranger game, obviously the score kind of spoke for itself, but I thought it started in the D zone and structure," he said.

For a team built around offensive skill and speed, Evangelista believes improving defensively will ultimately create even more opportunities at the other end.

"If we can be as good defensively as we are offensively, that's going to be the key for us," he said. "We got to be hard to play against, hard checking, structured."

And that was the message Monday.

"Guys worked. It was good. The energy was good in practice," Keefe said. "We just got to keep getting better here inside of these, especially these individual habits."

A Difficult Decision on Dillon

Brenden Dillon will remain out of the lineup when the Devils host Colorado on Tuesday, marking a fourth consecutive game on the sidelines for the veteran defenseman.

It's a situation Keefe acknowledged hasn't been easy to navigate.

"The conversation's not easy," Keefe said. "Dillon's a guy that's worked extremely hard in his career to establish himself in the league."

The 35-year-old is one of the Devils' most experienced players and an established leader in the dressing room, making the decision about his playing time particularly difficult.

"He's an important leader on our team, so to not have him involved, it wasn't an easy discussion," Keefe said.

The decision is tied to two other defensemen the Devils want to continue evaluating and developing.

Johnathan Kovacevic has returned to the lineup after missing time, and the coaching staff wants to keep him playing as he works his way back into form.

At the same time, the Devils are giving Declan Chisholm an extended opportunity to establish himself as a regular contributor.

"We want to keep him up and running and get him back in the swing of things here fully," Keefe said of Kovacevic. "And as we've said many times, we're wanting to really try to develop Chisholm into being an everyday player here. So we'll give him some runway with that."

That leaves Dillon, for the moment, on the outside looking in.

Keefe stressed that the situation isn't necessarily permanent, and that the club intends to find ways to keep all three defensemen involved as the season progresses.

"Dillon's already sat three in a row, and I don't know how many more we're going to have him on the sidelines, but he won't play tomorrow," Keefe said.

The coach also emphasized the professionalism required of a veteran in Dillon's position.

"He can continue to work hard and be a good teammate," Keefe said. "It's a lot harder to do so when you're not in the mix and playing every day, but that's just the reality of where we're at."

A Two-Goaltender Approach

With the Devils moving into a more conventional stretch of their schedule, there could be opportunities for one of their goaltenders to get consecutive starts.

But Keefe isn't necessarily looking to establish a prolonged run for either Jake Allen or Nico Daws.

Instead, the Devils remain committed to a two-goaltender approach, with workload, performance and the schedule all factoring into the decisions.

The early-season schedule has presented challenges in that regard.

A lighter opening week made it difficult to give one goaltender consecutive starts without leaving the other inactive for an extended period. Last week's five games in eight days created the opposite challenge, requiring both goaltenders to share the workload.

As the schedule becomes more balanced, Keefe expects those decisions to become more fluid.

"We'll just keep monitoring them and using them, and sometimes they make the decisions for us," he said. "And if it's not them, it's the schedule."

There's also the matter of Rémi Poirier, who remains with the organization as additional goaltending depth.

For now, Keefe made clear that the team's primary focus remains on Allen and Daws, while any decision to change Poirier's role would involve the organization's management.

"Our focus obviously has been on getting Daws up and running and feeling good," Keefe said.

He noted that maintaining confidence and trust is an important part of managing the position, particularly when three goaltenders are involved.

Poirier has handled his situation well, according to Keefe, and provides valuable insurance should the Devils need to make an adjustment.

"He's been handling it tremendously," Keefe said.

But the current plan remains unchanged.

"The priority remains on Daws and Jake."

HE SAID IT

Sheldon Keefe on the challenges of rotating three goaltenders in:

"I don't think there's a goalie in the world that would tell you that a three-goalie system is healthy mentally to stay focused and feel trusted."