Devils Off to Sunshine State to Start 3-Game Trip | NOTEBOOK

The Devils are ready for a little bit of sunshine, hoping of course the weather cooperates as the team heads to Florida this afternoon. New Jersey begins a three-game, six-day road trip in Florida taking on the Lightning on Thursday night, the Panthers on Saturday night and a Monday afternoon game against the Bruins.

Check out today's notebook for the latest info, updates, interviews, videos and more from the practice session!

Filling the Voids

Before the start of the full practice session today, associate coach Travis Green, who also manages the power play, had his first unit on the ice doing some skeleton work.

Without Jack Hughes, it is Dawson Mercer who has been called into duty to round out the five players on the first wave of the power play.

"He brings a right-hand shot there," head coach Lindy Ruff shared of Mercer moving up. "That will give us some one handed opportunities and low plays are a lot easier to make if you’re a right hander from that side. We’ll give it a try and see what it looks like."

"Obviously there are a lot of great players out there, so move the puck quick, get pucks on net and just make plays," Mercer said of the opportunity. "We’re all there for a reason, to try to score and get our team up and make momentum, so I want to make sure I bring that.

With Mercer moving off of the second unit, that left an absence to fill. Also without Ondrej Palat, the unit looks significantly different. Simon Nemec is quarterbacking the second man-advantage unit, alongside Erik Haula, Chris Tierney, Alexander Holtz and Nathan Bastian.

Same Goal, Different Look

There are a lot of new personnel on the Devils roster with the many injuries the club is currently facing and players like Shane Bowers, Max Willman and Cal Foote will all likely get a chance to see game action. Bowers skated on a line with Curtis Lazar and Nathan Bastian at practice, while Max Willman skated with Chris Tierney and Alexander Holtz, while Foote took reps rotating with Colin Miller off a defensive pairing with Kevin Bahl. 

In order to win games, the team might have to get it done a little differently than they would if Jack Hughes, Timo Meier, Ondrej Palat, etc., were available. 

“I think we have to understand that with the number of personnel out that you’re not the same team," Ruff said, "It doesn’t mean we can’t be effective in a different way, the personnel that we have in, that’s we’ve added they both have real good speed, they play the game that we like to play, so can you get inside? Can you create the second opportunities by using your speed to get by people? Quickness in the zone to be a better forechecking team, those are all things that we look at.”

It will need to happen fast, developing chemistry, with three games over the course of six days, and to see that happen, Ruff says it all comes down to playing the right way. 

“Be disciplined in how you need to play," he added, "Take care of the puck, manage the puck and I think it all comes down to compete. They’re all used to playing the same systems, so manage the puck well. I think being really heavy on the puck, one-on-one when you have the puck, not giving it up is going to be a big deal for us. Be a tough player to play against.”