Devils’ Nico Hischier day-to-day after exiting early vs. Canadiens

The New Jersey Devils got some more bad injury news during Saturday’s overtime win over the Montreal Canadiens.

Devils captain Nico Hischier left the game in the third period and was unable to return to the action.

After the game, New Jersey head coach Sheldon Keefe told reporters that he expects Hischier to be “day-to-day” going forward.

Hischier appeared to be injured on a cross-check from Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki in the second period. He took two more shifts in the game, the second of which came to open the third period, before heading to the locker room.

The 26-year-old forward scored his 24th goal of the season in the first period, bringing him to 43 points in 51 games in 2024-25. He finished Saturday’s outing with 14:09 of ice time.

“He’s had a great year,” said Jack Hughes. “If he needs a few days, we have guys that need to step up. We’re a good group and that has got to happen.

“Obviously, losing your captain tonight is a tough go with all the minutes he plays and the faceoffs he takes. Good bounceback for us tonight, but I don’t know what’s going to happen.”

This is the second straight game that New Jersey has lost a key player to injury, as goaltender Jakob Markstrom was forced to leave Wednesday’s win over the Boston Bruins with a lower-body injury and will be out for four to six weeks.

With Saturday’s win, the Devils improved to 28-17-6 on the season.

–with files from The Canadian Press

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