Devils Practice Ahead of Busy Stretch | NOTEBOOK

The Devils are practicing today in Newark prior to playing three games in four days (and seven games in 11 days).

Stay tuned to the notebook for the latest info, updates, interviews, videos and more from the practice session!

Tuesday's Workflow

The Devils went with the following line combinations and defense pairings on Tuesday at practice following a win Monday night against the Detroit Red Wings:

Meier - Hischier - Bratt
Palat - Mercer - Gritsyuk
Lammikko - Glass - Brown
Cotter - Glendening - Noesen

Siegenthaler - Hamilton
Hughes - Nemec
Dillon - White
Cholowski

Evgenii Dadonov did not skate and following practice, Devils head coach Sheldon Keefe said he was doubtful for Wednesday's game after being injured last night.

Allen and Bratt on How the Crowd Affects Them

Jake Allen has been around loud buildings before, but the way he talks about home ice, it always starts with responsibility. For him, the noise doesn’t just happen, the players have to earn it.

“I think from the first perspective, it’s our job as players to get the fans into it,” Allen said. “They’re coming to see us, so we want to give them a good opportunity, a good show.

“Ever since I’ve been here, the Devils fans have supported us tremendously,” he added. “It definitely helps… especially in your home building. It’s definitely a momentum changer. I think that’s the game, especially in the playoffs. It’s all about momentum.”

When the building starts to swell, it impacts more than just the home team. The goalie sees how it seeps into the other bench.

“Once you get your crowd behind you and it filters into the other team a little bit… they already know they’re on their heels,” Allen said. “Then you get a little bit of that momentum behind us and it just goes to another level.”

From the outside, it looks like the noise might drown out everything. Inside the crease, it’s almost the opposite.

“For sure you do feel it — you feel that little bit of extra adrenaline, that little bit of extra push,” Allen said. “You can just feel the anticipation a little bit. It means good things are coming on your side, or you’re doing good things as a group.”

But he admits that when he’s actually in the net, a lot of it blurs together.

“Honestly, when you’re in the net… you’re sort of zoned in a lot of the times,” he said. “A lot of things happen in a blur. A lot of people ask me, ‘What sort of went on in this?’ I’m like, ‘I have no idea.’ I was just zoned in on what I’m supposed to do.”

That changes on nights when he’s backing up.

“When you’re on the bench and you’re sort of a cheerleader, supporting teammates, you can take everything all in a little bit more,” Allen explained. “You realize the atmosphere, what the crowd does… the ebbs and flows of the game. It plays a huge part.”

Bratt largely agreed with his goaltender.

“You build off your momentum with the team and you get the fans engaged, and you just kind of want more and more and more out of it,” Bratt said. “You want the whole building to experience a goal for the team. Everyone’s pulling in the right direction — the fans are pushing you to create offense, we want to create offense — and that’s an energy boost for us as a group.”

He feels the fan energy physically.

“I think you feel it both ways,” he continued. “When you’re on home ice and you’re starting to tilt the ice to create offense, you feel your own crowd and you want to build that boost too.”

That same energy can turn into a different type of challenge away from home.

“Even when you play on the road and you have another team tilting the ice against you and their crowd starts going, you’re almost like, ‘Here it comes. Now we gotta fight this panic somehow,’” Bratt said. “It’s a lot of noise and it’s harder to hear each other talk to each other on the ice because of noise and all that stuff. It’s just part of the momentum of the game that gives a little bit of an extra boost.”

Bratt Happy with Team's Reslience on Monday

Bratt liked what he saw from his group in Monday's 4-3 win over Detroit, even if the script wasn’t perfect.

“You can’t always win the pretty way, where you’re just cruising through a win,” he said. “Sometimes the D-zone might be one part of the game that’s lacking or something, and you need guys to step up in every situation. A lot of the times this year it’s been Jaker, now it was Marky. They’re just giving us that extra comfort and protecting us when we need it the most.”

On the other side of the puck, the details they’ve worked on are starting to show up coming out of a rough stretch.

“We’re grinding through as a group a really good win last game that I think this group needed,” Bratt said. “Scoring some goals too and getting some tip goals and those things that we have talked about to create offense — I think some of those parts we got rewarded for, which was great. But like you said, Marky really stood on his head and helped us get that win.”

For Bratt, the next step is turning these moments into a baseline.

“We’re trying to find that consistency in our game — that we always just know how we play defense, we know how we play offense to be successful,” he said. “Sometimes pucks are gonna go in, sometimes they don’t. We’re playing good goaltenders too that sometimes are gonna have a night. It’s just part for us to find that consistency and create that progress that we know that, ‘Okay, every single day, it doesn’t matter who our opponent is, this is how we play.’”

A tight room helps with that.

“It’s super key,” Bratt said of the group’s closeness. “We spend so much time together, it becomes a family. Especially now early on in the season, we’ve had a lot of road trips where you get to spend more time with each other than we normally would… it really brings you together.”

That shows up when games get heated.

“When scrums and stuff happen, we stick up for each other,” he added. “We’re always there to protect each other, and I think that’s what good teams and good groups do.”

Keefe on Hughes, Nemec Pairing

One of the recent changes the Devils made starting this past Saturday in Philadelphia, was putting young dynamic offensive blueliners Luke Hughes and Simon Nemec together.

“The big change for us was having Luke and Nemo together, and we’ve seen really great things from them offensively,” Keefe said. “But in a game, or half a game I should say, where we defend too much, you’ve got two young defensemen that are trying to sort it all out defensively all the time themselves. That can be a challenge.”

He doesn’t want to lose what they bring on the attack.

“We like a lot of things they’ve done offensively,” he said. “We just gotta do more to get there, if that pair is gonna continue. Because defensively, it creates some challenges. They’re both used to having veteran guys that can solve situations for them and talk them through different things.”

That’s where bench management becomes critical. Assistant coach Brad Shaw handles the defense “shift to shift,” as Keefe puts it.

“He’s managing it there — looking at the matchups and the momentum swings and all those kinds of things,” Keefe said. “It can be tempting. You’ve got Siegenthaler who does a great job, and (Brenden) Dillon as well. How you can manage those guys and move them around to different situations, which they did do and will continue to do.”

Injuries have accelerated the learning curve.

“The young guys gotta take steps here,” Keefe said. “Any time you have injuries, it’s opportunities for other people to grow and step up. In the case with Pesce’s absence, since that’s occurred, Luke’s taken on a lot more. Dougie was out for a while there, and Nemo obviously took a big step as well. You want to continue to foster that as best you can while trying to still put yourself and each player in a position to win the game.”

Coaching a Balanced Game

Keefe’s view of development stretches beyond one pairing. Asked about the most “coachable” players he’s had, he pushed back on the idea that there’s a clear divide.

“Every player, I’d say, in their own way, is coachable,” he said. “Not many guys get to this level without the ability to accept some guidance and embrace a team environment and some structure. I don’t think I’ve encountered many guys I would describe as uncoachable. Everybody wants their coaching in their own way. It just has to be delivered in different forms.”

That means balancing what players need to hear with what they do best.

“Some guys need some help and guidance on the defensive side,” Keefe explained. “But if they’re guys who are offensive minds, then you’ve gotta make sure that you’re feeding that side of their game as well. It can’t be one-sided.”

He applies that philosophy to the team as a whole.

“I know we gotta get a lot better defensively, keep working at that, but we’re still hitting on things on offense,” he said. “We don’t want to lean too heavily one way or the other, because I like to coach a balanced game. And I think generally that’s what the athletes want too.”

Keefe added that he feels the team is balanced off the ice as well, echoing some of the thoughts said by Bratt and Allen on how tight the group is.

“These guys, whether it’s the players themselves or the coaching staff and training staff, the reality is over the course of an NHL season, you spend more time together than you do your own families,” he said. “You’ve got to hope that the guys enjoy their time together and can co-exist well. That’s a huge part of it, and that usually transfers to the ice.”

He likes the mix in his room.

“We’re fortunate we’ve got lots of great personalities, great character, great leadership, a very welcoming group,” Keefe said. “We’ve got players here from different cultures, countries, so it’s come together nicely that way. You get a lot more out of everyone — it’s a lot easier when you really care for the guy beside you.”