The Devils are practicing Friday afternoon at RWJBarnabas Hockey House inside Prudential Center. Their moms are in town for the annual parents’ trip. The mothers watched as the Devils defeated Carolina, 4-2, Thursday night and will travel with the team to Washington, D.C. when they face the Capitals Saturday night.

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

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Practice Details

All expected players were accounted for at practice. The group even took a team photo with the moms on the ice before practice began.

#NJDevils workflow at practice…

Palat – Hughes – Bratt
Meier – Hischier – Noesen
Foote – Haula – Mercer
Cotter – Dowling/Bowers – Tatar

Dillon – Hamilton
Siegenthaler – Kovacevic
Hughes – Pesce
DeSimone – MacDermid

— Sam Kasan (@samikasan) November 22, 2024

He Said It:

Hischier on Noesen’s presence on the power play: “He’s a great presence in front of the net. Tips pucks. He can bury pucks upstairs, screen the goalie, he makes great reads. He’s super competitive. He wins pucks back, wins battles. That mindset on the power play is important, it’s how you score goals.”

Big Mom Vibes

The players, of course, were more than happy to have their moms join them for the upcoming trip. The moms are also getting a glimpse into the lives of their sons, accompanying them in the meeting room, locker room, plane, hotel, etc.

Hischier: “It’s great. I’m trying to enjoy it as much as possible. It’s great to have them here. Every mom is a huge part of why we’re here right now. Show them around a bit and I think it’s fun for them as well. It’s great to have them on the trip. … Having her with me on a travel day, getting on the plane, going to the hotel. Having her with me and showing her everything we do before a game.”

Luke Hughes: “It’s pretty cool. Its’ really the cool the organization does this for us. I think they’re very excited and it’s definitely really special. … She was the best, running around taking the three of to practice, outdoor rinks, workouts and stuff. For her to come on the trip and enjoy a day in our life is pretty cool.”

Keefe: “We had the moms in our meeting room before practice. Just the imagery of seeing the moms sitting alongside the sons in their stalls when we have our meetings. It is different energy and it’s terrific. They’re very happy to have them here. They brought us some good energy yesterday as well to get off to a good win and set the tone for a good trip for them. We’ll get a good dinner tonight with them and a chance to interact further. As I said to our group today, with any sports team you’re trying to build a family-type environment. No family can thrive without the love and support of their mothers. To have them here and be a part of this stage of the season is really good timing.”

Building

The Devils are 3-1-0 in their past four games. But most impressive is that they’ve won twice on the road against the defending Stanley Cup champions in Florida and triumphed Thursday night against Carolina, arguably the hottest team in the NHL right now.

Keefe said these key wins are steps in the process.

“If anything, it’s just some confidence that you can play with anybody in the league,” Keefe said, “and extra belief in the things that we’re talking about as a coaching staff when the players go out and execute and stay with it as a group they can have success collectively.”

Lucky Luke

Devils defenseman Luke Hughes missed the opening nine games of the regular season as he recovered from a shoulder injury. Some rust was expected upon his return. But Hughes has worked his way through it and is starting to look like his normal self.

“The last five games I’ve found my game,” he said. “I’m getting good opportunities playing really good in the D zone, having good sticks, turning over pucks and moving into transition to our fast forwards.”

Hughes looks confident in his play, and it shows in his skating, puck handling and defensive zone work. He’s excelled lately against some pretty tough competition. And it’s helped having the presence of veteran Brett Pesce at his side.

“Me and Pesce have found our stride together,” Luke said. “It takes time with a new partner. I think these last five games have been our best and there’s only one way to go, up.”

It’s also helped that Hughes and Pesce have played all 13 games this season together, providing some consistency.

“He’s been great. Really fun to play with,” Hughes said of Pesce. “He’s got an unbelievable stick. He can break up plays. He’s a really good passer with the first pass out of the D zone. It’s been really fun playing with him and I hope we get to play together for a really long time.”