Erik Haula practiced with the New Jersey Devils on Monday afternoon.
New Jersey Devils forward Erik Haula is continuing to progress and work his way back from injury.
The 33-year-old has been sidelined with an ankle injury since Jan. 4. Per reporters in Pittsburgh, Haula, who remains on IR, skated with Timo Meier and Dawson Mercer on Monday at practice.
"Obviously, its is nice when you see a teammate has been out for a bit, recovering, and trying to get better," Mercer said to NJD.TV. "He had a good practice out there today. He put a lot of goals in the net, and we are hoping to get him back as soon as we can."
"Practicing today was more so forecasting the rest of the week," head coach Sheldon Keefe said to NJD.TV. "His target was more later in the week, but we will see. I thought he looked really good. He looked like he pushed himself quite hard, so we'll see where he is at."
Keefe noted that there will only be one practice left before the 4 Nations Face-Off break.
Haula has offensively been snakebitten with five goals and 11 points in 42 games but has been one of their more relied-upon centers after Nico Hischier. This season, the veteran has a face-off win percentage of 55.4%, second-best behind New Jersey's captain.
Sunday afternoon's game against the Buffalo Sabres was a prime example of how desperate the Devils are for help on the draws. Justin Dowling was the only natural center to earn a face-off win percentage over 50%.
The following lines and pairs were used at Monday's practice:
Ondrej Palat - Jack Hughes - Jesper Bratt
Timo Meier - Erik Haula - Dawson Mercer
Paul Cotter - Justin Dowling - Stefan Noesen
Tomas Tatar - Curtis Lazar - Nathan Bastian
Jonas Siegenthaler - Dougie Hamilton
Brenden Dillon - Brett Pesce
Luke Hughes - Johnathan Kovacevic
Jake Allen & Nico Daws
Extras: Kurtis MacDermid and Brian Halonen
The Devils will look to earn two points on Tuesday night against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
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