New Jersey Devils official website

MORNING SKATE REVIEW

NEWARK, NJ – The Devils held a morning optional skate tournament at the Prudential Center on Friday before taking on the Seattle Kraken.

Forwards Jack Hughes and Tomas Tatar were on the ice for the Devils. Hughes did not practice Thursday due to a maintenance day, while Tatar has missed the last two games with a lower-body injury.

Devils head coach Sheldon Keefe said Tatar and Erik Haula, who also missed Thursday’s practice, will be in the lineup tonight against the Kraken.

“Haula never missed any time in a game. Tatar, it’s nice to have him back,” Keefe said.

“I feel great. Everything is fine now,” Tatar said. “I’m happy to be back and help the team.”

Other players who took part in the optional skate included forwards Jesper Bratt, Justin Dowling, Nathan Legare, Nathan Bastian and Kurtis MacDermid, defenseman Nick DeSimone and goalkeeper Jake Allen.

Goalkeeper Jacob Markstrom will start in goal.

milestone

The Devils will reach two big player milestones tonight. Bratt will be playing in his 500cc race^Th Career player and defender Dougie Hamilton will appear in his 800^Th Career competition.

“I think that’s a lot of games. I missed a lot, but I was lucky enough to be able to play a lot,” Hamilton said. “I don’t really think about it much. It’s another reminder that I played a lot of games and was able to live my dream for so long.”

For Bratt, he was one of the players Keefe mentioned early in his tenure with the Devils that really stood out to him.

“The way he goes about his business and is prepared every day. The extra work he does off the ice. He is a very hardworking professional. He takes his job very seriously. He does everything he can to be prepared every day. I’m very impressed with his overall approach to the game.

Back to the beginning

The Devils will host a Kraken team that has taken early leads in the last two games against Carolina and the NY Islanders, winning both games.

“They are confident. They get you under control quickly. “They started games fast, took control and didn’t look back,” Keefe said. “They will try to establish their game. This will be an additional challenge for us, a group that is trying to do this ourselves.”

The Devils themselves have made the start of games a focus lately.

“When I say early, I mean the first 10 minutes,” Keefe said. “In the first ten minutes we want to keep better control of the games and take command. Our game in New York was a good example of it being our last game.”