Three players returned to the New Jersey Devils lineup on Tuesday night against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Dougie Hamilton, Evgenii Dadonov, and Connor Brown all hit the ice for the Devils on Tuesday night after being injured for several games.
The Devils fell 5-1 to the Lightning, who played without their head coach. Jake Guentzel recorded his eighth career hat trick, Darren Raddysh had a goal and two assists, and Nikita Kucherov had a goal and an assist. Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 31 shots, allowing only Nico Hischier’s goal.
The Lightning improved to 9-3-0 in their last 12 games after getting off to a 1-4-2 start to their season.
The Devils lost in regulation for the first time since November 2, despite 24 saves by Jacob Markstrom.
The Devils' seemingly forever-growing injury list just got shorter, as Hamilton, Brown, and Dadonov returned last night. Hamilton and Brown were dealing with undisclosed injuries, while Dadonov was missing time with a hand injury.
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Evgenii Dadonov had played just one game earlier this season before being sidelined. Hamilton played 15 games this season, including last night, tallying seven points. Brown has played 12 total games, tallying 6 points.
Following the game, head coach Sheldon Keefe spoke with the media and NHL.com about the three guys' performances.
“They looked like guys that haven’t played or practiced. It’s what you thought you were going to get. But that’s the nature of the beast. With where we’re at with the number of injuries we have, we thought getting them the game reps and getting back going that way is the best way to go about it,” said Keefe. “They’re cleared medically. They’ll get better every game. They got better throughout this game. Those guys were much better in the third period than they were in the first two.”
The lineup for the game was announced fifteen minutes before puck drop.
Gritsyuk - Hischier - Bratt
Meier - Mercer - Brown
Palat - Lammikko - Noesen
Siegenthaler - Nemec
Dillon - Hughes
Cholowski - Hamilton
Following the game, Dadonov spoke with the media and NJD.tv about his return to the ice.
"I'm happy to play again, that's for sure. A little rusty because I didn't finish one game in the regular season,” said Dadonov. “It's been over a month. It's hard to get in right away. I felt a little bit better as the game went on.”
The team now continues its five-game road trip, as it prepares to face the defending Stanley Cup champions. The puck will drop at 7:08 PM on Thursday as the Devils look to get back in the win column.