NEWARK, N.J -The Devils started the morning by announced that goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood has been placed on Injured Reserve due to his lingering heel injury. The club recalled netminder Akira Schmid from Utica of the American Hockey League.
"What he's been dealing with, we're just trying to help him get through it," head coach Lindy Ruff said. "Really no update, no timeline.
"The goal is to get him healthy. Obviously, he struggled with the injury he's had. It's something that's affected his play. We want to see him healthy and we want to see him play."
The team used the same workflow from the previous game…
Vesey - Hischier - Tatar
Sharangovich - Hughes - Bratt
Zacha - Mercer - Johnsson
Kuokkanen - McLeod - Bastian
Siegenthaler - Severson
Graves - Subban
White - Jaros
"Creating some consistency among lines, D pairs have switched around a little bit with guys going in and out," Ruff said. "But line-wise, trying to get guys comfortable with who they're playing with."
Power UP
The Devils have scored a power-play goal in each of the past four games, and have eight man-advantage tallies in the past 11 contests.
"It's one thing we'll continue to keep working on," Ruff said. "We worked on where you need to be. Where players need to get to. The type of plays we want to execute from game to game. It's an area of the game that I've worked the most on with the staff."
Since Jan. 1, New Jersey ranks 11th in the NHL on the power play with a 25-percent conversion rate.
"They look good. They're making good plays," Ruff said. "They're finishing on some of the good opportunities. There are a lot of good things, but you have to put the work in to get the results and they've put the work in."
Key In
The Dallas Stars are a very top-heavy team. Their top line of Jason Robertson, Joe Pavelski and Roope Hintz have accounted for nearly half of the team's goals this season. They'll likely get a heavy dose of either Michael McLoed or Nico Hischioer.
"There's always a matchup in there I'm looking for," Ruff said. "It'll be one of our harder lines, heavier, more physical, with a (Nathan) Bastian or a McLeod, a Nico or Jimmy Vesey. They know physically they'll have to take punishment to make plays.
"Part of playing well against other team's top lines is if you can get possession and you can hang onto it. Nico is one of the best guys when he gets down low offensively. It's like the running game in football. You're going to consume some of the clock. By the time they get it out they're going to dump it in and they're going to change, and you've done a good job against the other teams' top lines."
--Sam Kasan, New Jersey Devils Team Reporter
