Injuries have suddenly become a topic of concern for the New Jersey Devils heading into their matchup at the Philadelphia Flyers on Monday.
One game after losing No. 1 goalie Jacob Markstrom to an MCL strain, the Devils watched team captain Nico Hischier depart 36 seconds into the third period of a 4-3 overtime win on Saturday against the Montreal Canadiens with an undisclosed injury.
The Devils did not practice on Sunday, so Hischier’s availability won’t be known until game day.
“Obviously, he was unable to finish the game, so it’s one of these things,” New Jersey coach Sheldon Keefe said. “I expect him to be day to day, but we’ll just see where he’s at (on Sunday), how things settle down.”
Hischier leads New Jersey with 24 goals.
“He’s had a great year,” Devils center Jack Hughes said. “If he needs a few days, we have guys that need to step up. We’re a good group and that has got to happen.”
Keefe also revealed that Hughes, the team’s leading points scorer (57), is also “less than 100 percent.”
The Devils have won two in a row following a 2-6-3 stretch and are still firmly locked into third place in the Metropolitan Division, but they’ll need backup goalie Jake Allen to help keep them afloat while Markstrom is out an estimated four to six weeks.
“There’s not going to be a team all year that’s not going to lose important guys during times in the season,” Allen said. “âMarky’s been our best player all year and he’s probably going to be when he comes back, but we’re just trying to hold the fort until he does.”
The Flyers beat the Devils 3-1 on Jan. 18 in the first of three meetings between the teams in a span of 12 days. They also play Wednesday in New Jersey.
Philadelphia beat the Detroit Red Wings in overtime on Tuesday to match their longest winning streak of the season at three games, but have dropped the past two, most recently 3-1 at the New York Islanders on Friday.
The Flyers allowed two goals off odd-man rushes 55 seconds apart in the first period, erasing their 1-0 lead.
“We make two bad mistakes losing our high man at the end of the first period,” Flyers coach John Tortorella said. “That cost us two goals. That’s the difference in the game, for me.”
Tortorella said after the loss on Friday that he was thinking off shaking up his forward lines. The top line of Owen Tippett, Morgan Frost and Travis Konecny has been the most productive for New Jersey this season, but the trio has been quiet the past two games.
“It just hasn’t worked,” Tortorella said. “With (Konecny) on that line, I’m just not sure that’s a match. Some of (Konecny’s) points when I’ve had him on that line haven’t really come with that line, so we’ll see what the lines shake out for our next game.”
The only change to the forward lines at practice on Sunday was Scott Laughton replacing Anthony Richard on the fourth line. Laughton missed the previous three games for a family matter.
Philadelphia was without defenseman Egor Zamula at practice on Sunday. He also missed Friday’s game with an upper-body injury.
