New Jersey Devils‘ fans recurring fear came to the surface again. Star forward Jack Hughes went down the tunnel after an early first period shift on Thursday and did not return.
He initially left just 4:10 into the first but it appeared to be ‘crisis averted’ as he returned to the bench a few minutes later. Then, after hopping over the boards for a 42-second shift, he headed back down the tunnel and did not return.
Thankfully, it appears it won’t be anything major. After the game, head coach Sheldon Keefe said, “He tweaked something in the game, but I guess the update would just simply be we don’t believe it’s a serious thing at this point in terms of length and time. In terms of his availability for the road trip, we’ll determine that tomorrow.”
He also later clarified that it was a lower body injury.
Devils fans will hope Hughes can return as soon as possible, with their season already on life support. Prior to Thursday’s contest, Moneypuck had their playoff odds at just 13.2%. The Devils sit in seventh place amongst the Metropolitan Division — seven points behind the New York Islanders (third divisional spot) with the same number of games played.
Dating back to his rookie season, Hughes has missed 103 of 506 games — just over 20%. Oftentimes, the absences have come at make-or-break times in the season.
This injury comes at a specifically bad time for Hughes, who is slated to head to Milan, Italy with Team USA for the 2026 Winter Olympics in a couple of weeks. Hopefully this doesn’t interfere.
Stay tuned to The Hockey Writers for any related updates.
