In and Out
While those mentioned above joined the practice session, several players did not participate. Timo Meier was kept off the ice due to back spasms, while Brett Pesce took a maintenance day.
"Considered day-to-day at this point," Keefe said. "We'll see what tomorrow brings. An additional day today was going to be helpful for them. They've been playing through some stuff and the break has been really important in lots of ways. Not only to give them rest, but in some cases some guys maybe wouldn't have played in Tampa the other night if we didn't have the break coming. We'll take advantage of this time and see where they're at tomorrow."
In the meantime, with the additional players called up, Keefe and his staff will have several new options when building out their lineup for each game.
“With the group that we have been playing, our fourth line, you probably want to play them a little bit more, get a little more ice time. However, our team has played their best hockey with those guys in," Keefe said. "Our top players, playing a little bit more have played better. So, there’s that fine line between mixing it up too much and also just recognizing that sometimes you take a little step backward in one place that can help in another.
"We just like how the group is playing," he continued. "I like the identity of the fourth line and how they’ve played, they’ve given us good shifts. The team has played well, most importantly. We’ll continue to look at it, day-to-day and opponent-to-opponent type thing.”
The Devils' next opponent will be the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday night.
