Ilya Kovalchuk is in the Devils lineup on Saturday for the first time since March 23.
The star winger has missed the past 11 games with a right shoulder injury, in which the Devils endured a 10-game winless streak (0-6-4) before a 3-0 win over the Flyers on Thursday.
“I just wanted to get back as soon as I can,” Kovalchuk said a few hours before the Devils played the Panthers at the Prudential Center in Newark. “I like the game too much just to sit in the stands and watch; I’m excited and it will be fun today.”
New Jersey was in seventh place in the Eastern Conference before his injury but now sits in eleventh place, eight points behind the Rangers for the final playoff spot. The Devils managed 19 goals in the 11 games without him, and Kovalchuk knows it will take nothing short of a miracle for the team to return to the post season after winning the Eastern Conference last season.
“We all know the situation we’re in but we still got a chance and we will fight,” he said. “We will just stick to one game at a time. Rangers won [Friday], we know that. But it’s going to be good games.”
The Devils would be eliminated from playoff contention if they failed to gain a point on Saturday, needing to gain at least nine points in their remaining five games while getting a lot of help.
Kovalchuk wasn’t sure what line he would be on for the game, but was excited to be back. There was some irony in the fact that he returned to play the Panthers, the team he was playing when he suffered the injury after crashing into the boards late in the third period of that game.
“Almost a month. I watched a lot of hockey and I skated on my own a lot so I don’t want to do that anymore,” he said.