Devils Pregame Notes: Monday Morning Edition

The Devils received some good news at practice on Sunday, pertaining to the injury status of Kyle Palmieri and Taylor Hall.

The Devils skated Sunday morning in Newark to get the guys ready to go for tonight’s game versus the Anaheim Ducks. Among those who skated for the team were Taylor Hall, Kyle Palmieri and Marcus Johansson, all of whom have been out of the lineup due to various injuries.

At the end of the practice, head coach John Hynes said that Hall and Palmieri would definitely be back in the lineup for the Devils against the Ducks and that Johansson would skate again Monday morning to see how he was feeling.

The Devils ran a decent sized practice where the boys worked on their line drills as well as special teams. Here are the lines used.

Line Rushes:
Hall-Hischier-Palmieri
Coleman-Zajac-Gibbons
Bratt-Boyle-Noesen
Wood-Zacha-Stafford
Extra Forwards: Johansson, Hayes

Moore-Vatanen
Greene-Santini
Butcher-Severson
Extra Defense: Prout-Lovejoy

Cory Schneider
Keith Kinkaid

Power-Play Units:
Butcher-Hall-Palmieri-Zajac-Boyle
Vatanen-Severson-Hischier-Bratt-Stafford

An optional morning skate was held today for the Devils, in advance of NJD vs ANA. Here’s what we learned:

Marcus Johansson will not be returning to the lineup tonight versus the Ducks, however he should be good to go on Thursday against the Rangers.

The d-pairs will stay the same from Sunday’s practice.

Jimmy Hayes will be the forward used as a healthy scratch with Kyle Palmieri and Taylor Hall returning to the lineup.

Goalie Cory Schneider will start in goal.

This will be Adam Henrique’s first career game against his former team.

Emotions will be high. Henrique met with the media in Newark prior to tonight’s game to discuss what it’s going to be like facing his former team.
“Nervous, anxious, excited… A little bit of everything.” Henrique reflected. “People have been awesome since that day. I’ve gotten very nice messages from fans. Lots of people have reached out and it’s a great feeling. That kind of helps the initial shock. You feel good about what you left behind and what I did in my time, not only at the rink but away from the rink as well.”

Henrique, 27, was drafted by the Devils in 2008 in the third round. He was considered by many to be a player that would more than most likely be a career Devil.
However, all of that changed on November 30 when the New Jersey Devils announced that they had traded forwards Adam Henrique and Joseph Blandisi as well as a conditional 2018 third round pick to Anaheim for defenceman Sami Vatenen.

Sami Vatenen and the New Jersey Devils will face Adam Henrique and the Anaheim Ducks for the first time tonight in Newark. Puck drops at 7pm.