New Jersey Devils head coach Sheldon Keefe wasn’t going to let the uncertainty of the NHL’s trade deadline alter his plans for the team’s workout on Friday morning.
“In lots of ways, it’s business as usual,” Keefe said. “It’s a distracting day, whether you feel you’re involved in it or not, there’s a lot going on. So, just be mindful of that. Went out, got a good workout in, got a good skate. We’re also preparing for another back-to-back, so we weren’t going to be out there long regardless. We move along.”
Fresh off an uneventful trade deadline day, the Devils will return to the ice Saturday afternoon when they continue their seven-game homestand against the archrival New York Rangers in Newark, N.J.
Jesper Bratt notched an assist for the third straight game Wednesday and scored the decisive tally in the shootout to lift New Jersey to a 4-3 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs.
“There have been a lot of games this year where I feel my overall game has been really good,” Bratt said after the Devils extended their winning streak to three. “It’s just been those last few percentage (points) to put the puck in the net.”
Bratt leads the team in assists (32) and finds himself tied for top honors at 45 points with Nico Hischier after the captain set up a pair of goals versus Toronto.
Timo Meier has scored three goals in his last five games for New Jersey.
New York also toppled Toronto in its last game, courtesy of a 6-2 decision Thursday.
Will Cuylle scored two goals in that contest for the Eastern Conference cellar-dwelling Rangers, who are 2-0-1 in their last three games on the heels of an abysmal 2-11-2 stretch.
“Obviously, this year hasn’t gone how we wanted it to, but we’ve still got a lot of games left, a lot of fans coming out to support us,” Cuylle said. “So, we’ve got to try to get as many wins as we can here in the last 20 games, play for pride and play for the jersey.”
Mika Zibanejad joined Alexis Lafreniere in collecting a goal and two assists Thursday. The former leads all players on the current New York team in goals (25), assists (31) and points (56).
The Rangers did not part ways with Vincent Trocheck at the NHL trade deadline, with team president and general manager Chris Drury reportedly telling other teams that New York was not sending the forward packing for the sake of making a trade.
The Devils also held on to defensemen Dougie Hamilton and Simon Nemec at the trade deadline.
“I did not have Dougie Hamilton’s name out there,” New Jersey general manager Tom Fitzgerald said, per The Athletic.
Devils defenseman Brett Pesce sat out against the Maple Leafs due to a lower-body injury he sustained Tuesday. He also will be a spectator versus the Rangers on Saturday and Detroit Red Wings on Sunday.
“He didn’t skate today and is not going to be available this weekend,” Keefe said.
