Devils Defenseman Fall Like Flies

The injury bug has derailed GM Knedel’s plans to start the season and the Devils haven’t played their 5th game of the season. New Jersey now has a league leading 4 players on the IR, which is not a category the team is very thrilled to be leading at the moment.

4 games into the season and the defense who took the ice in Philadelphia won’t be seen again until the Devils’ final game of their Eastern Canada road trip in Ottawa or back home on Day 41 vs Edmonton.

Alex Pietrangelo who was hurt in game 3 vs Anaheim will be out the longest, missing 14-15 games. Brandon Carlo and Jeremy Lauzon who both were injured in game 4 vs Islanders causing the Devils to finish the game with 4 defenseman, will be out 5 games.

Tyler Wotherspoon, who was picked up off waivers before the start of the season, was inserted into the lineup after the Pietrangelo injury and will now be joined by Dennis Cholowski and Aaron Ness in the starting lineup after their recent call ups from Utica.

After the game we got to hear a few comments from GM Knedel regarding the recent roster moves and adversity the Devils team is about to face.

“We were disappointed to see Petro go down in the last game but Tyler came in tonight and played great, providing an assist and playing a nice well rounded clean game.There’s not more we could’ve asked from him tonight and looking forward to what else he can provide to the team moving forward. Brandon sacrificed his body tonight for the team and unfortunately got injured and Jeremy had to exit after he went awkwardly into the boards after that hit by MacKinnon. Both guys have been evaluated by our medical staff and will be out for some time.”

This next stretch of 5 games will not only test the New Jersey Devils but also the Utica Comets who are off to a hot 3-0-0 start to the season and see 2 of their top defenseman be called up to the big club.

Here’s how the defensive pairings are shaping up for the two teams for their next game

New Jersey:

Brodie - Bouchard

Wotherspoon - Siegenthaler

Cholowski - Ness

Utica:

Davies - Duszak

Beaudin - Santini

Fitzgerald - Clurman