The Matchup: New Jersey Devils (26-22-2) @ Vancouver Canucks (17-28-5)<\/p>\n
The Broadcast: MSGSN, Devils Hockey Radio Network<\/a><\/p>\n The Time: 10:00pm ET<\/p>\n Last Devils Game<\/p>\n Late Tuesday night, the New Jersey Devils played the second half of a back-to-back in Edmonton against the Oilers. Arseny Gritsyuk and Cody Glass scored goals, Jake Allen was great, and the Devils grinded out a 2-1 victory<\/a> over the Leon Draisaitl-less Oilers.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Last Canucks Game<\/p>\n Vancouver was in action on Wednesday when they hosted the Washington Capitals. Despite the Caps jumping out to an early 2-0 lead, the Canucks scored four straight and eventually held on for a 4-3 victory. The win snapped a losing streak that we will talk about shortly.<\/p>\n Last Devils-Canucks Game<\/p>\n On December 14, the Canucks visited New Jersey having just traded their captain and one of the best players in the world, Quinn Hughes. It didn\u2019t matter, as they defeated the Devils 2-1 despite being held to just 15 shots. It was an infuriating game all around<\/a>.<\/p>\n Clarity On Luke<\/p>\n As you all probably know by now, Luke Hughes injured his shoulder in the game in Calgary back on Monday. Tonight won\u2019t be the Devils\u2019 first game without him in the lineup, but it will be their first game after getting a little more clarity on the situation:<\/p>\n Not that it was any surprise, but Luke Hughes is now officially on LTIR. Crucially, the initial reports seem to indicate that New Jersey is NOT declaring his season over<\/a>. He is also choosing to forgo surgery<\/a>, opting for rehab instead. This also seems to mean that the Devils will not have his full $9m cap hit available to them<\/a>. If they had elected to place him on Season Ending LTIR, they would. But because they are (for now) going with regular LTIR, they will get a shade over $3m in cap relief at the moment. This is all subject to change of course, but as far as I can tell, this is the latest info.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n All of that is also secondary to the young man\u2019s health. What is it with the Hughes brothers and shoulder injuries? I for one am pretty concerned since it appears to be his right shoulder<\/a> that was injured this time, whereas the one he injured prior to last season was his left<\/a>. It also appeared to be his left shoulder<\/a> that he injured against Carolina in the playoffs last April. So unless I\u2019m missing something, and please correct me in the comments section if I am, this is a supposedly perfectly healthy shoulder that simply fell out of its socket thanks to some very light contact. On the surface, that is very, very troubling.<\/p>\n In the here and now, Hughes will miss some time. How much time remains to be seen. Hughes was in the midst of a very disappointing season, but he was actually starting to put together a quality stretch of hockey<\/a> over the past couple weeks, which makes the timing of this injury sting so much more. Here\u2019s to a speedy recovery for the youngest Hughes brother.<\/p>\n The Blueline in Hughes\u2019 Absence<\/p>\n The good news (well, not actually good, but you know what I mean) is that the Devils have plenty of experience this season playing with a shorthanded defense corps. If Hughes really is done for the year, they will have played less than one handful of games with all of their NHL-level defensemen available to them. Johnny Kovacevic was the final piece to return, and he only played a few contests before Hughes got hurt. Pretty unbelievable.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n In any case, New Jersey knows how to handle injury adversity, and along those lines, here is how they lined up in practice yesterday:<\/p>\n As Stein mentions in her tweet, this is how the Devils lined up against the Oilers as well. Their response to placing Hughes on LTIR<\/a> was to call Colton White back up to the big club. He\u2019s skating as an extra for now, but don\u2019t be surprised to see him get back into a game soon if another defenseman gets hurt.<\/p>\n So how do we feel about these pairings? Personally, I think this is about as good as it\u2019s going to get unless Hughes returns at some point. I know Keefe isn\u2019t crazy about having a defenseman play on their off-side, but it looks like he\u2019s decided that is the lesser of two evils between that or playing White.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Lenni Looks Strong<\/p>\n Lenni Hameenaho had his second consecutive strong game to begin his career on Tuesday. Skating on a line with Cody Glass and Arseny Gritsyuk, Hameenaho did not register a point, but he was on the ice to help create Gritsyuk\u2019s goal. According to Natural Stat Trick<\/a>, at 5-on-5, Hameenaho registered an unthinkable 100% Expected Goals For%. No, that\u2019s not a typo. Perhaps it\u2019s a bug in NST\u2019s system, but it\u2019s not a typo. Hameenaho somehow pitched a shutout in terms of xGF% against the Oilers, the only Devil to reach 100% xGF.<\/p>\n