Blackwood Closer
Goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood has joined the Devils on their season-long five-game road trip. He did off-ice work on Monday and is expected to practice his teammates at their Tuesday morning skate.
"Off-ice workout today. Tomorrow he'll be back on the ice," head coach Lindy Ruff said. "We just go from there. A day-to-day evaluation of where all these guys are at."
Blackwood, 25, hasn't played a game for the Devils since Jan. 19 (ironically against the Arizona Coyotes). A heel injury, which required surgery last summer, has plagued him all season long. He dealt with the issue for much of the year until the team shut him down in January.
If Blackwood does join the team for the morning skate, it'll be his first appearance with the team in nearly three months.
"It means you're on your way to a full recovery," Ruff said. "Hopefully at some point we can get him back to where he'll be able to play a game for us."
Blackwood has played 23 games this season going 9-9-3 with a 3.29 goals-against average, .894 save percentage and two shutouts.
4:20
The Devils have four players on the roster with 20 or more goals. It's the first time in a decade (2011-12) that the team has produced four 20-goal scorers.
"You have to score goals to win games," captain Nico Hischier said. "It's good that we can produce and we know it. It'll just help for the future."
Jack Hughes leads the pack with 26 (despite having been knocked out for the season). He's followed by Jesper Bratt (23), Hischier (20) and Yegor Sharangovich (20). Their ages are 20, 23, 23 and 23 respectively.
"You want to be a part of (the future here). I think everybody in here wants to be a part of it," Hischier said. "Every player, including me, wants to get better every year. That's the goal."
