Devils Hold Practice Before Thursday's Game | NOTEBOOK

The Devils are taking advantage of four days between games with several practices. Yesterday, the team had a skills session before a full practice.

Today, all expected players were accounted for, including forward Timo Meier and defenseman Brett Pesce who missed yesterday's practice. Head coach Sheldon Keefe gave an update on both players following the on-ice session.

“I haven’t gotten a report coming out of the practice, but it was encouraging going in,” Keefe shared on Meier and Pesce's status. “The fact that they got through it I think is a good and healthy sign. In both cases we likely won’t know for certain until we see how they wake up tomorrow and how their body is feeling after today’s practice.”

Both players also gave updates on how they felt following the 40 minute practice.

“Feel good,” Meier said following practice. “Got a nice practice in today. Just some maintenance but feeling good today so ready to go for tomorrow."

“I feel good,” Pesce shared. “It’s kind of an odd thing where you get four days off. So if you need a little extra rest it’s good to take it. Games matter most.”

Below is the latest info, updates, interviews, videos and more from the practice session!

Practice, Practice, Practice

The Devils practice kicked off with some power play time, allowing both units to get several rounds of reps.

The first power play unit consisted of Nico Hischier, Jack Hughes, Dougie Hamilton, Stefan Noesen, and Jesper Bratt. Luke Hughes, Dawson Mercer, Tomas Tatar, Timo Meier, and Erik Haula made up the second unit. As of Nov. 20, the Devils power play is fifth in the league, scoring 28.6% of the time.

Here's how the Devils lined up throughout the practice:

During the practice, Keefe addressed his group to help raise their level of effort. He was happy with the response and discussed how minimal practice time has impacted this group.

“I thought it got better after our discussion,” Keefe shared. “It wasn’t where it needed to be before that. You can put a finger on a number of things. Whether it’s the time off and you kind of lose your edge a little bit when that’s the case, or just (not) having practice. Yesterday and today are our third and fourth practices of the month. In some sense I think we had forgotten what we had established in terms of the level of competitiveness and the pace required in our practices that we can bring out to games. I felt they needed a reminder, I gave them that, and it got a lot better after that.”

Forward Nathan Bastian, who joined part of the Devils practice yesterday, did not participate.

Bowers and Foote both practiced on the fourth line throughout practice. Foote discussed his back injury that sidelined him last season following Tuesday's practice. Bowers shared about using his speed to make a difference if he plays, following Wednesday's on-ice session:

"I think for me (it's showing) that I can play at this level and I can help the team," Bowers explained. "Trying to use my speed, that's my best asset. Just try to bring that to the lineup and show that I can play at this level and that I can stick around."

Friend or Foe?

For Brett Pesce, playing the Carolina Hurricanes Thursday will be the first time in his NHL career in which he's faced his former team. Pesce spent the first nine seasons in North Carolina before signing with the Devils during free agency.

“Definitely adds a little motivation for sure. Obviously never done it before. I think the first period might be a little weird, I got a lot of good friends on that team, but at the end of the day we need a win. They’re a good team, they’re in our division, and we need the two points. I can talk to them after.”

He Said It

Timo Meier discussed the first stretch of the season and building consistency moving forward:

“Especially the last ten games, I think we’ve took a step. That Florida trip, we obviously wanted that Tampa game. There’s some things we can change about that. Obviously every time you get shut out that doesn’t feel great when you lose. But I think we’re playing a fast game, we’re defending the right way. Now it’s just about consistency, doing it every day, improving, and having great practices because we don’t get a lot of them, especially in the stretches we have. Use every time you have to work on your game, it’s important too. We’re watching a lot of video, trying to get those details right. We’re doing it every night, that consistency is really important.”

The First Quarter

The Devils started their season quickly with 21 games in 43 days. 11 of those games were on the road and two additional contests were overseas in Prague. Although it was a busy stretch, it provided plenty of opportunities to grow as a team and learn different ways to win.

"Speed, hard to play against, and structured, that's what we're trying to go for," Brenden Dillon shared about the Devils developing identity. "Had to find different ways to win during this 21 game stretch. We've played the skilled teams, we've played the big, physical, heavy teams. We've needed our special teams to help us through certain nights, different lines contributing, we're trying to be a full team and I think we've shown spurts of that. It's only a quarter of the way through the year but something to build on for sure."

When reflecting on the identity forming with this group through the first stretch of games, head coach Sheldon Keefe discussed the understanding of what it takes to win games.

"I think we've become a team that knows what's required in terms of the competitiveness and the defensive structure," Keefe explained. "The foundation that gives you a chance to win each night. We've embraced that and with that confidence we're starting to see our pace offensively start to come together. The group believes in each other and we're seeing lots of positive things here in the last 10 game segment. It was a real strong one for us and lots to build on there."