MORNING SKATE RECAP
NEWARK, NJ. - The Devils held an optional skate on Tuesday morning ahead of facing the Florida Panthers at Prudential Center.
Center Jack Hughes took part in the skate. He was joined by Jesper Bratt, Arseny Gritsyuk, Cody Glass, Nick Bjugstad, Lenni Hameenaho, Max Tsyplakov, Paul Cotter, Evgenii Dadonov and Luke Glendening, defenseman Johnathan Kovacevic and goalie Jake Allen.
Celeb Status
The whirlwind tour continued for Jack Hughes following his Golden Goal at the 2026 Winter Olympic Games for Team USA. He’s made appearances on the Pat McAfee Show, Saturday Night Live and, as of last night, can add The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon to the list.
“We had a lot of fun,” he said. “He’s got incredible energy. Just meeting him and talking to all them, you see why they’re all so good at their jobs and why they’ve been around for a while. They make every guest feel so important and they bring so much energy so it’s fun going on those type of things.”
With all those things behind him now and nearly 10 days since winning Olympic gold, Hughes is ready to turn his focus off the Olympics and back to the Devils.
“It’s an honor just to win a gold medal for the US. The best couple weeks of my life,” Hughes said. “A lot of fun celebrating with the guys and enjoying it.
“Now after all this, it’s in the rearview mirror. We’ll pull it back out in the summer. But it’s back to Devils, locking back in here and trying to win some games.”
Frenemies
After winning a gold medal together with Team USA, Hughes and Florida’s Matthew Tkachuk will now face off against each other this evening.
“That’ll be interesting. We hung out so much with the Tkachuk brothers,” Hughes said. “Just unbelievable guys. I had fun being on the same team as him. That’s a weird one, playing him this early.”
Mr. 800
Things have come full circle for Devils center Nick Bjugstad. Tonight he’ll appear in his 800th career NHL game, and he’ll do so against the team with which he began his career. Bjugstad was a first-round pick (19th overall) by Florida in 2010 and he played six-plus seasons in a Panthers sweater.
“Pretty cool. I got to start in the league with Florida and had some fun years there,” he said. “It’ll be fun to play against them tonight. It takes a lot of people and fortunate circumstances to play 800 games in the league. I’m very grateful for that. Still having fun with it. I’m trying to enjoy myself and keep getting better every day.”
Despite hitting such a big number, the 13-year veteran played down the career achievement.
“The 1,000 mark is the big one for all the guys,” Bjugstad said. “Eight hundred is fine but everyone sets their sights on 1,000. For the few that can make it there, that’s a very impressive feat.
“It feels like it’s been a 1,000 for me but it’s only been 800,” he said with a smile. “I still enjoy it, still enjoy playing. I’m so fortunate to be playing in the NHL.”
Enemy
Devils head coach Sheldon Keefe on the Panthers: “You know what you’re in for. Whether it’s the video or their analytical profile, they are who they are. They’re going to play very hard, they’re going to compete hard, they’re going to forecheck you more than anybody in the league. They’re going to make it incredibly hard to get through the neutral zone and attack on the rush at the blue line. Those are all things you have to contend with. We’ll be ready for that and look to find our way through it. That’s a big part of it.”
