New Jersey Devils All-Star forward Jack Hughes, who was week-to-week with an upper-body injury, is back in the lineup for Saturday’s game against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Devils coach Lindy Ruff confirmed Hughes’ reentry on Saturday afternoon, as New Jersey prepared to wrap up a four-game road trip against its division rival.
Hughes, two days after making his second All-Star Game appearance, had two goals in three points in a Devils’ 5-4 overtime win against the Vancouver Canucks on Feb. 6. He finished that game and practiced two days later but did not finish the session.
Hughes, 21, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2019 NHL draft, has 35 goals and 67 points in 50 games this season, and he has the Devils primed to return to the postseason for the first time since 2018.
New Jersey, in the No. 2 postseason position in the Metropolitan Division entering Saturday’s play, went 2-1-1 in Hughes’ absence. If the season ended Saturday, the Devils would meet the rival New York Rangers in the Eastern Conference’s first round.