Taylor Hall back in Devils lineup

CHICAGO --The return of left wing Taylor Hall is good news for the New Jersey Devils, who will welcome him back to their lineup against the Chicago Blackhawks at United Center on Thursday (8:30 p.m. ET; CSN-CH, MSG+2, NHL.TV).
Hall, who will skate on the top line, had surgery to repair the meniscus in his left knee on Nov. 16, two days after sustaining the injury at practice. He returned to practice for the first time Monday and declared himself ready to play after the morning skate here on Thursday.

"Taylor is going to play," Devils coach John Hynes said. "With a guy like Taylor, he is in great shape. Obviously, coming off not playing a game here in about a week or a couple weeks, we'll get him right in there and I think we'll just manage it as the game goes on. We'll see how he looks or see how he feels, but we're going to put him in and he's hopefully going to be a big factor on our team."
The Devils placed forward Reid Boucher on waivers to make room for Hall on the roster.

"It's a great building to play in and a great atmosphere," Hall said of playing at United Center. "I've always enjoyed playing here. You just miss being around the guys. You can practice with them, you can be in the meetings with them. But not fighting in the games and being a part of that is what you miss when you're out."
Hall was told he would miss 3-4 weeks but resumed skating on his own nine days after surgery and returned to practice 12 days later. The Devils went 2-4-2 in the games he missed.
"When you're coming back, you want to make sure that every skate leading up to it, you feel good, you feel great, and that's the case," Hall said. "I'm excited, I don't feel like I've rushed back. I feel like I'm ready to go and that's a good feeling. … You try to simulate game situations in practices but it's hard. You can't make it up. You've got to play games to get back and feel the game a little bit. You can feel as good as you want in practice but until you try it out in a game, until you play at that pace and that speed, you'll never know. But I think I'm ready to go."
At the time of his injury, Hall was tied for the Devils lead in goals (five) and points (12), was first in power-play goals (three) and game-winning goals (two), and was first among forwards in average ice time (20:41). He has 60 shots on goal in 14 games.
Hall will play with center Adam Henrique and right wing PA Parenteau on Thursday.
Hall has played the most even-strength minutes with Parenteau and Travis Zajac, who centers the second line, but his puck-possession numbers are good in the 29:43 of 5-on-5 time he has played with Henrique. Hall has a .548 shot-attempts percentage (SAT%) with Henrique and .568 with Parenteau.

"I think they're all very good players," Hynes said. "I thought that Parenteau, when he was with [Zajac] and Hall, played well. Henrique's obviously a very good player and good player in the middle. He can distribute the puck, and when you look at the combination of the line, you have speed, hockey sense and skill. They just need a strong work ethic to complement that."
Hall was acquired from the Edmonton Oilers for defenseman Adam Larsson on June 29.
After the game against the Blackhawks, the Devils will play at the Nashville Predators on Saturday and return home to play the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday.