MORNING SKATE RECAP
NEWARK, NJ – The Devils held a full morning skate on Friday at Prudential Center ahead of hosting the San Jose Sharks. And they had an extra body on the ice for the session.
Goalie Jacob Markstrom (lower-body) joined the team. He’s been out since suffering a lower-body injury in the third game of the season at Columbus on Oct. 13. Markstrom will not be playing tonight, but it is a good sign of his recovery.
“He’s doing really well,” head coach Sheldon Keefe said. “He’s done well this whole time. He’s only missed one day on the ice. He’s been skating a lot. He’s been taking live shots for a number of days from our IR guys. First skate with our guys. I expect he’ll practice with us tomorrow and we’ll take it from there.”
Center Cody Glass did not skate due to an upper-body injury. He is now projected to be out on a week-to-week basis.
“He’s going to miss some time,” Keefe said. “We’re not quite sure the exact period but it’s not a day-to-day situation. We’re hoping it’s no more than a couple of weeks, but we’ll see how it goes.”
The Devils used the same lineup from their previous game with the only switch coming in goals with Jake Allen starting…
Palat – Hughes – Bratt
Meier – Hischier – Gritsyuk
Cotter – Mercer – Brown
Noesen – Glendening – Halonen
Hughes – Pesce
Siegenthaler – Hamilton
Dillon – Nemec
Streaking
The Devils will carry their six-game winning streak into tonight’s game and are looking to extend that to seven.
“We’re a confident group,” defenseman Brenden Dillon said. “We’re trying to manage the two sides of it where you’re enjoying the wins, you’re enjoying being on a six-game win streak. That’s something to embrace and understand that that’s hard to do. At the same time, we understand we have a lot of runway ahead of ourselves. Now teams will be more on watch and we have to expect other teams’ best efforts and best games.”
3-for-3?
Dillon has goals in each of the past two games. Will he extend his goal scoring streak to three games?
“We’ll see how it goes,” Dillon laughed. “(Simon Nemec) has to get me the rock and I’ll keep shooting.”
Shark Bait
The Sharks are coming off of a 6-5 overtime victory against the New York Rangers last night. It’s the second time this season that San Jose has scored six goals in a game.
“They’ve got a lot of offense, a lot of high-powered don’t-need-much-opportunity to score,” Dillon said. “They’ll make you pay. We have to have structure. It’s not just one checking line or one D pair. It’s five guys being on the ice and recognizing when we have the puck and on a good defensive positioning to hold that and not cheat for offense. These guys have shown they can score goals and put up five or six no problem. Those aren’t the types of games we want to be in.”
The Sharks are led by 2024 first-overall pick Mackelin Celebrini, who has six goals and 11 points on the season. He’s coming off a huge game against the Rangers, recording his second career hat trick and adding two assists for a five-point night.
“He’s a great, young player and I hate to say a great, young player because he’s just a great player,” Keefe said. “It was a big night for him last night. He’s just a good well-rounded player. He’s strong on the puck. Can score in different ways, good in possession. Lots of good things about him.”
