Markstrom Skates Partial Practice | NOTEBOOK

The Devils are practicing at RWJBarnabas Health Hockey House inside Prudential Center on Wednesday afternoon.

The big news from Tuesday's practice was the return of captain Nico Hischier to the ice.

Stay tuned to the notebook for the latest info, updates, interviews, videos and more from the practice session!

Practice Info: Markstrom Appearance

Goaltender Jacob Markstrom (knee, IR) joined the Devils for the opening session of practice. He only took part in the early portion, but that was all according to his scheduled rehab plan. Another step in the process as he works to return.

Forward Chase Stillman and defenseman Seamus Casey joined the team on the ice for practice. They were recalled yesterday but didn't practice due to travel issues from Utica.

4 Nations Face-Off participant forwards Jesper Bratt and Erik Haula were held off the ice. With an off day Thursday, likely they'll be back for Friday's practice.

Back to Work

The Devils held their first paced practice on Wednesday afternoon. They did light work on Tuesday for a half hour just to get their feet under them after nine days off the ice. But Wednesday was full throttle for 45 minutes, and even some conditioning skates to finish.

“That was fun,” Lazar laughed. “When you go away for that long and have fun you know it’s going to come back the other way. But you put the work here in practice and it pays off in the games.”

That being said, the team certainly took the opportunity of the break in action for the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament to really get away from the game physically and mentally.

“The break was fantastic,” Lazar said. “A true opportunity to disconnect, recharge the batteries mentally and physically. I would be lying if I said it wasn’t easy leaving the boys at home for our own leisure. It’s tough. It doesn’t feel fair. It was much needed to get away and now tackle the rest of the season.”

The break was unique in other ways. Typically, when the All-Star Game is held, the players get less than a week off and it’s back to work. It’s rare that this much time is given during a season.

“Look at the Christmas break, it’s three days. You exhale and you’re back on the ice,” Lazar said. “This is the true break and opportunity to disconnect. The season that I’ve had, the ups and downs, frustration with my body, clear my mind, reset, refocus, remember who I am and why I play this game and how much fun I have playing it and come back here recharged.”

Final Stretch

Now that the Devils have returned from the break, the focus is on the remaining 25 games of the regular season and getting some traction back in their game.

“We talked about since the Christmas break to the bye week, our inability to string together games, inconsistent so to say,” Lazar said. “Let’s squash that. We went over some videos, find our principles, our identity again and get back to the team we were at the beginning of the year. That break was a great time for us to get away, now regroup, come back recharged and play to our potential. Now it’s time to show it.”

It seems every year that the start of the season to the January/February break (whether for All-Star or 4 Nations) is a grind. But after that, the end of the season comes at warp speed.

“You blink from Christmas on. It goes by so fast,” Lazar said. “The mind of a hockey player, you don’t really know what day of the week it is. You just focus on the next day: is it practice or a day off? We want to find our game as quickly as we can over this break, continue to put those building blocks together so we’re ready to go.”

He Said It:

Casey on getting back to the NHL: "You're goal is to come back up. I'm happy to be up. It's super exciting being with the guys. ... Anytime you get called up it's an opportunity."