The hill gets steeper for the New Jersey Devils, as the injured list just gets longer.
On Friday, a handful of Devils skaters were absent from practice following their 8-4 beat down by the Tampa Bay Lightning. Of the trio, Arseny Gritsyuk was not on the ice. Head coach Sheldon Keefe revealed he will be out through the weekend nursing an injury.
“Gritsyuk is going to be out this weekend, and then we’ll figure out a plan from there for him. He’s going to need some time,” Keefe said, upon just finding out right after Friday’s practice.
It’s not a new injury for Gritsyuk, who has been dealing with an upper-body injury since before Thursday’s puck drop.
Through 31 games this season, Gritsyuk is among the top rookie scorers with seven goals and nine assists for 16 points.
The Devils play against the Anaheim Ducks and Vancouver Canucks on Saturday and Sunday this weekend, both at 12:30 P.M. ET.
Keefe also revealed that Timo Meier remains absent on personal leave while he attends to a family health matter.
Cody Glass and Stefan Noesen were both also absent, however, Keefe confirmed they took maintenance days, and are good to go for the back-to-back on Saturday and Sunday.
Gritsyuk’s injury adds to the list of key Devils who are missing amid a tough stretch in the schedule in which New Jersey has dropped six of their last seven games, five on home ice.
Jack Hughes, Evgenii Dadonov, and Brett Pesce remain sidelined, while Johnathan Kovacevic won’t be due back until the New Year at the earliest.
As reinforcements, the Devils have turned to Utica Comets forwards, Angus Crookshank and Xavier Parent. Parent made his NHL debut on Friday, and Crookshank potted his first goal of the season and as a Devil against the Lightning on Friday.
