NJ.com’s Ryan Novozinsky has shared that Erik Haula and Tomas Nosek will likely both miss New Jersey’s Friday night game with an upper-body and lower-body injury respectively. Haula was the only one of the two to play in the team’s most recent game, being named the game’s third star after a two-point performance. Head coach Lindy Ruff told Novozinsky that the duo will likely not travel with the team on their upcoming two-game road trip.
The absence of Haula and Nosek leaves a dent in New Jersey’s bottom six that’s expected to be filled by Curtis Lazar and Nathan Bastian. Bastian has been with the Devils for five of his six NHL seasons, briefly joining the Seattle Kraken for 12 games of the 2021-22 season before the Devils claimed him off waivers partway through the year. Lazar is a much more recent addition, joining the Devils via trade ahead of the 2022-23 trade deadline. He’s only played six games with the Devils between last season and this season and has yet to record a point. New Jersey could also turn towards summer signee Chris Tierney to fill an empty role. Tierney has yet to make his debut with the Devils.
Other injury notes:
- Jamie Drysdale is day-to-day with a lower-body injury and is expected to miss Anaheim’s next game. In his spot, rookie Tristan Luneau is expected to make his NHL debut. Luneau was a second-round pick in the 2022 NHL Draft and has spent the last three seasons with the QMJHL’s Gatineau Olympiques, winning the league’s ’Defenseman of the Year’ award last season.
- The Pittsburgh Penguins’ injury woes continue, with head coach Mike Sullivan sharing that Kris Letang is being evaluated for a lower-body injury. Noel Acciari is also dealing with an upper-body injury. Both players missed the team’s Thursday practice.
Doesn’t Blueger play for the Canucks?
Yes, Blueger is a Canuck. The linked article about the “other injured Penguins” is also from pre-season in 2022. Sloppy work Gabriel
Thank you for this flag! That info has been corrected.
Sorry to be so harsh. You got my hopes up that Carter wouldn’t be playing
And speaking of sloppy, How about those Penguins last night?
Dismissal. I keep hoping Carter gets an infected splinter and goes on LTIR
It’s good to see rookie Tristan Luneau get playing time. Hope he does well.