MORNING SKATE RECAP
DETROIT, MI - Defensive reinforcements are on their way for the New Jersey Devils as head coach Sheldon Keefe announced that Brett Pesce and Luke Hughes will both play their first games of the season on Thursday night against the Red Wings.
Both Pesce and Hughes missed training camp and the start of the regular season rehabbing from off-season injuries. Pesce underwent surgery on his fibula while a member of the Carolina Hurricanes, while Hughes hurt his shoulder just prior to training camp.
Keefe is looking forward to having them a part of the day-to-day mix.
"Pesce is obviously well established and excited to have him a part of our group, but in a more official capacity in our group, in uniform, it’s just great," Keefe said, "Obviously Luke is an exciting young player, tremendous season last year as a first-year guy and I’m excited to get to know him better with him in uniform too.”
It's been a long wait for Pesce, who signed with the Devils on July 1 and the feeling of finally being able to throw on the jersey in a game feels extra special.
"Just excitement, I haven’t felt these nerves in a while," he said, "It feels like it’s my first game. Just exciting, a new start for myself, a new team. I’m ready to go into battle with the boys.”
It's a good time too, for the Devils, to have their defensive depth added to. In recent games, the team has struggled to keep the puck out of their net, and adding in the talent of Hughes and Pesce will certainly be a big boost. They alone cannot change the outcome of the games, as Keefe looks for his team to make vast improvements of their play, particularly limiting how much time they, as a team, have found themselves defending.
“There’s areas of our game, particularly with the puck… I do think defensively, with the puck we do have a good foundation there of what we need to do," Keefe said, "Some things do creep in, like the other night, but to me it’s more a result of poor puck play which is overwheleming us with how much we have to defend and defending tired.
"When you’re defending tired, it doesn’t matter what your structure is, it’s the same as when you’re not competing, things fall apart. It’s the play with the puck that can get our game going a lot more so we can be on the attack a lot more.”
