Two of the New Jersey Devils’ most important players, P.K. Subban and Kyle Palmieri, are in doubt for Thursday due to injury and illness.
The New Jersey Devils picked up a 4-3 shoutout victory in Ottawa over the Senators Monday night. It was their first game back from the All-Star break. Despite the win, there was some reason for concern. Devils forward Kyle Palmieri left the game early.
Luckily it appears Palmieri is good to go. According to Chris Ryan of NJ.com, Palmieri was active in practice Tuesday. Before leaving the game, Palmieri scored his 17th goal of the season, which was his team-leading 32nd point this campaign.
While Palmieri returned to practice Tuesday, defenseman P.K. Subban was not on the ice due to a reported illness. Subban played 20:14 minutes of Monday’s Devils victory. He even got into a fight with Senators All-Star winger Brady Tkachuk.
Ryan reports that Connor Carrick replaced Subban in line rushes during practice. He joined Subban’s typical defensive partner Andy Greene. There’s no report on Subban’s status for New Jersey’s next game.
With Monday’s win, the Devils improved to 18-24-7 on the season. They’re still seven points behind the New York Rangers (50) in the Metropolitan Division. They sit at just 43 points as they look to avoid a second-straight last-place finish.
New Jersey will be back in action Thursday when they play host to the Nashville Predators who are 22-19-7 on the season with 51 points. They’re just six points back of the final Western Conference wild-card spot.
If Subban is able to go, it’ll be the second time he’s faced Nashville since they traded him to New Jersey in a three-player trade this past offseason.
The Predators defeated the Devils 6-4 on Dec. 7 at the Bridgestone Center in Nashville. Palmieri, Jesper Bratt, Travis Zajac, and the recently traded Taylor Hall scored in that game.
