Devils to Face Capitals Without Jack Hughes | PREVIEW | New Jersey Devils

THE SCOOP

Devils

The New Jersey Devils announced on Friday that star forward Jack Hughes will be out of the lineup against the Washington Capitals after sustaining a non-hockey-related hand injury. In a corresponding move, the Devils also placed forward Connor Brown on Injured Reserve to call up Shane Lachance from Utica. Brown, whose placement on IR is retroactive to Oct. 30, can come off the injured reserve list at any time.

The Devils opened their five-game road trip in Chicago on Wednesday night, defeating the Blackhawks in overtime on the back of Simon Nemec’s first career hat trick, which the overtime winner topped off. The game didn’t come without its own set of roster issues as both Cody Glass and Zack MacEwen were injured in the first period. MacEwen was later placed on IR, and Utica forward Nathan Légaré was recalled from Utica. He joined the team in Chicago on Thursday. Lachance will meet the Devils in Washington.

Capitals

After an incredible season last year, the Washington Capitals are off to a disappointing start and are currently on a seven-game losing streak.

Special teams have been a struggle for the Capitals, with their power play ranked 29th in a league of 32 teams, good for just 14.8 percent success rate, while their penalty kill is just slightly better than their power play, ranked 27th in the league working at a 73.2 percent rate.

The Capitals are coming off a four game road trip where they went 1-3-0, their most recent loss being a 6-3 final to the Florida Panthers.