Devils' Luke Hughes, Brenden Dillon out for Game 2 vs. Hurricanes; Cody Glass back in


RALEIGH, N.C. — New Jersey Devils defensemen Luke Hughes and Brenden Dillon will miss Game 2 on Tuesday against the Carolina Hurricanes after sustaining injuries in Sunday’s 4-1 loss. Cody Glass, who also left Game 1 with an injury, is healthy and will play.

“It’s obviously big losses for us, clearly, but not unlike anything we faced in the regular season,” coach Sheldon Keefe said. “The group has to rise above it.”

The Devils are already without star forward Jack Hughes (shoulder), who will miss the rest of the playoffs, and defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler (lower body). Šimon Nemec and Dennis Cholowski will draw in on defense with Dillon and Hughes now hurt. Keefe said the team will check in on Dillon and Luke Hughes after Tuesday’s game.

Even with Glass in the lineup, Keefe will likely make a non-injury-related change to the forward group. Based on morning skate lines, Tomáš Tatar looked likely to enter the lineup in place of Daniel Sprong.

Dillon suffered an injury after getting tangled with William Carrier in the second period. Keefe said Sunday he wanted to re-enter the game, but the training staff held him out. The coach declined to say Tuesday whether or not the injury was a concussion. Dillon is a key penalty killer for the Devils and averaged 18:35 a game in the regular season.

Luke Hughes was injured after a collision sent him into the Devils’ net. He left the game but later returned. The 21-year-old had 44 points this season, tops among Devils defensemen, and led New Jersey in shot attempts, scoring chances and expected goals in Game 1, according to Natural Stat Trick. It’s an injury the already undermanned Devils can hardly afford.

During the same shift as the Hughes injury, Jacob Markström tried to whack Andrei Svechnikov with his stick. Instead, he caught Glass, who crumpled to the ice, left the game and did not return.

“I’m just glad it wasn’t anything serious,” Glass said. “I’ve fallen like that before and had some major damage done, so I’m glad it’s not that.”

Glass, a deadline acquisition, called Markström “such a great human being” and said the goalie felt bad about the play.

“Now that I’m OK, it was pretty funny,” Glass said.

Nemec, the No. 2 pick in the 2022 NHL Draft, and Cholowski, a minor deadline acquisition, will both make their postseason debuts. They will likely play together on the bottom pair. After averaging nearly 20 minutes a game as a rookie in 2023-24, Nemec had an up-and-down second regular season, going back and forth between the Devils and AHL Utica Comets. He said he is “so excited” for the opportunity to play in the postseason and looked like it Tuesday morning. He was among the first Devils players to hop on the ice when morning skate began.

“I feel good in the last games that I played,” he said. “I feel confident about my game now. I feel prepared.”

Keefe said the playoffs are an adjustment, as some of the Devils’ younger players experienced in Game 1.

“(Nemec is) going to have to simplify things, get the puck moving and rise up with his intensity level,” Keefe said.

(Photo of Luke Hughes and Logan Stankoven: James Guillory / Imagn Images)





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