NEWARK, N.J. -- Jack Hughes returned to the lineup for the New Jersey Devils against the Calgary Flames on Thursday.
The center had missed 11 games since sustaining an upper-body injury against the Chicago Blackhawks on Jan. 5. He took part in the morning skate prior to a 5-3 win against the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday but did not play.
"Yeah, excited; ready to get back out there," Hughes said after the morning skate Thursday. "We definitely played really well last game. It was a big win coming out of the All-Star break so hopefully we can ride that and piece together a bunch of wins and make a serious push here."
New Jersey (25-20-3) plays four more games after Thursday prior to taking part in the 2024 Navy Federal Credit Union NHL Stadium Series game against the Philadelphia Flyers at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, on Feb. 17 (8 p.m. ET; ABC, ESPN+, TVAS-D, SN1).
The Devils are five points behind the Flyers for third in the Metropolitan Division and five points behind Detroit Red Wings for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference.
Hughes didn't want to discuss specifics about his injury but said, "I just didn't feel right, but obviously feeling better now and excited to play."
New Jersey was 4-6-1 and was outscored 41-35 in the 11 games without Hughes, who was on a line with Tyler Toffoli and Alexander Holtz at the morning skate Thursday.
"I'll be aware of his minutes, but it'll depend really on how he looks," Devils coach Lindy Ruff said of Hughes. "That'll dictate the number of minutes."
At the time of the injury, Hughes was leading the Devils in assists (30) and points (45) in 32 games, and was second in goals (15) behind Toffoli (16).
Toffoli also returned to the lineup after not playing against Colorado due to illness.
"We've got a couple guys coming back in, one that was sick and hasn't practiced and the other (Hughes) who hasn't had any game conditioning," Ruff said. "I think at some point, rust will catch up to you, but getting them back in gives us all the tools up front that we need to keep pressing forward."
