Devils Notebook: Injured Defenseman Returns; Good News, Bad News

Ahead of the New Jersey Devils’ second matchup with the New York Islanders on Friday, some good news came out of morning skate. Injured defenseman Brett Pesce took his first spin on the ice at RWJBarnabas Arena. It doesn’t appear as though he will play on Long Island Friday night, however, his attendance at practice is indicative that a return is near.

PREGAME READ: Devils at Islanders: Projected Lines; Notes; How to Watch, & More

Devils head coach Sheldon Keefe did clarify that although Pesce was on the ice, he’s not ready to play.

“He’s not close to playing at this point. It’s just encouraging to get him on the ice with more humans,” Keefe explained to the media. “He’s been skating by himself for the most part. To get him with the group is nice. He’s got a great energy about him too. So just having him around the guys, they enjoyed it. So I’m sure it’s exciting for him to get out there with the guys, and great for us to get a look at him. But it’s just small stuff in his process.”

Okay, now for the not so good news. Santeri Hatakka was missing from morning skate. Devils head coach explained Hatakka was continuing to be evaluated by the medical staff on Wednesday after he didn’t finish the game against the Montreal Canadiens earlier this week.

The unfortunate update from Keefe — he explained Hatakka remains under evaluation, but is not dealing with something that’s just “day-to-day.”

Keefe also explained that Friday night’s lines should be pretty indicative of the roster he will ice in Prague against the Buffalo Sabres on Oct. 4th.

Here was Friday’s workflow:

Devils Friday Lines*

Forwards

Timo Meier — Jack Hughes — Jesper Bratt

Tomas Tatar — Nico Hischier — Dawson Mercer

Ondrej Palat — Erik Haula — Stefan Noesen

Paul Cotter — Curtis Lazar — Nathan Bastian

Defensemen

Brenden Dillon — Dougie Hamilton

Jonas Siegenthaler — Johnathan Kovacevic

Jakub Zboril — Simon Nemec

Nick DeSimone — Seamus Casey

Brett Pesce

Goaltenders

Jake Allen

Jacob Markstrom

*Lines via Amanda Stein, subject to change in warmups.

Jake Allen will get the start tonight vs. the Islanders. Keefe wants Allen to get in a full game like Jacob Markstrom did on Wednesday.

Devils PTO defenseman Jakub Zboril is projected to play with the Devils tonight. Seamus Casey won’t play after playing on back-to-back nights earlier this week.

READ: Seamus Casey Impresses Devils Superstar & Coach in Roster Spot Bid

The Devils play the Islanders tonight at 7 P.M.

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