Defenseman Luke Hughes made his return to the New Jersey Devils lineup on Saturday. Hughes was placed on Long Term Injured Reserve on January 19 after suffering an upper-body injury.
Hughes returned to play on Saturday against the St. Louis Blues, marking his first game back since the injury.
To make room on the roster, the Devils announced that Colton White would be sent back to the American Hockey League's Utica Comets.
This season, White played 23 games with the Devils and recorded four assists.
In his first game back, the 22-year-old Hughes logged 20 minutes of ice time, took two shots on goal, and earned one assist.
In 50 games this season, Luke has 22 assists and five goals. Head coach Sheldon Keefe commented on Hughes’ performance to NJD.tv following the game.
"I thought he was good,” Keefe said of Hughes’s return. “A couple of times he got stuck out there, and you could see the conditioning getting the better of him a little bit, but that’s all part of it, coming back. So, good for him, most importantly, getting through the game healthy, and the more he does that, he’ll just gain more and more confidence in his body and conditioning. But you could see at different times his ability to just take two, three strides and jump in and give us a different look offensively, I think that will pay off for us.”
Contributing to a strong team effort, Hughes helped the Devils defeat the St. Louis Blues 3-1.
Following the win, the team will now head back to New Jersey for a seven-game homestand.
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