Devils return home to face Capitals | PREVIEW

MORNING SKATE REVIEW

NEWARK, NJ – Heading into today's game against the Washington Capitals, the Devils had no changes to their lineup from the win in Ottawa, with one notable exception:

Cotter-Hughes-Beckman
Meier – Hischier – Mercer
Tatar – Haula – Noesen
Palat – Lazar – Bastian

Dillon-Hamilton
Siegenthaler – Kovacevic
Casey – Nemec
Hughes-Pesce

Markstrom
Allen

Adam Beckman skated on the top line along with Paul Cotter and Jack Hughes while Jesper Bratt did not skate.

“He’s dealing with an illness,” Devils head coach Sheldon Keefe said of Bratt. “He was in the building and at our meeting this morning, but we felt we would not put him on the ice this morning and will make a decision after warmups.”

The other notable thing from the morning skate was the pairing of Luke Hughes and Brett Pesce, two injured players. Neither are ready to return yet, but Keefe said it's a positive sign that they're skating with the group.

“The schedule was what it was and we didn’t have the practice time,” he said. “It’s a way for us to get them out with the group and more players than they would see in a rehab skate.”

DILLON'S 900

One of the defensemen who will play is Brenden Dillon and it will be the 900th game of his NHL career. Keefe talked about the blueliner, who is off to a good start with two assists and a +3 rating with 11 penalty minutes in seven games.

“I would say he lived up to my expectations. You judge a player from a distance if you don't know him. He's a guy you'd expect to be number one for the team. He's going to be a competitor.” “I saw that from my first phone conversation with him: He cares about the team and is doing everything he can to help the team grow and be competitive,” said Keefe, adding that he did everything for him in every area.

REMATCH WITH THE CAPS

The Devils know they will face a motivated opponent after spoiling the Caps' season and home opener last Saturday.

“It was one of our better games offensively. How we controlled the puck, made some plays and had real access to the net. Part of that was that it was Washington's first game. “They cleaned up some things and have responded well since then, so we're expecting a very different looking Washington team (tonight), no question,” Keefe said.

Since the loss, the Caps defeated the Vegas Golden Knights 4-2 and the Dallas Stars 3-2.

“They beat two good teams,” Tomas Tatar said. “It will be a tough game. It will be a different team. We have to be in top shape. We had a very good game in Washington. We still want to improve and get better. We expect a tough game.”

Dillon added that if the opposite were true, the Devils would be looking to avenge the loss in a big way.

“We were going to be hungry, we were going to be aggressive and we were going to do our best tonight,” he said.

“Any time you play (against a team), whether it's a playoff game or back-to-back regular season games, you know whether you won or lost that you're going to improve your game. It was Washington's first game of the season, we also know it wasn't our best at home and if you look at how they have played since the game against us, they won and played against two good teams. “

Insult the focus

Tatar added that he thinks the team could improve the time they spend in the offensive zone, which would lead to more scoring opportunities.

“We play well defensively. We're still trying to create more offense. There are a few areas we are working on. It was a tough road trip, a lot of traveling. “We had a day off and hope that we can recharge our batteries and bring a lot of energy with us this evening,” emphasized Tatar. “We spend very little time in the O-Zone. We’re trying to open up a lot of different options to create something or extend time in their O-Zone.”