Rolston aiming to play in Philly; Holik might practice Tuesday; top two lines staying together

Devils forward Brian Rolston said he is aiming to play in the team's next game Thursday night in Philadelphia against the Flyers. He has been out since Oct. 16 with a high right ankle sprain. He practiced with the team today for the first time since he was injured in the third period of a 1-0 victory over the Atlanta Thrashers in which he scored the only goal.

"I hope I'm playing Thursday," he said. "That's what I'm shooting for."

Center John Madden, who has missed the last four games with a bruised left ankle, also said he plans to play Thursday.

"I'm planning on playing," he said. "I'm practicing to play. So we'll see if I get back in there."

Devils coach Brent Sutter is trying to remain cautious, but admitted "there's optimism" about both players playing against the Flyers.

"We'll see how the week goes," Sutter said. "Yeah, it would be great if we did (get both players back). But let's see how they practice and see how things progress the next two days. After you go through what we've been through the last two months, you keep your guard up. But there's optimism."

***

Sutter said center Bobby Holik (broken right pinky) and defenseman Andy Greene (broken right hand) skated on their own before practice today. Sutter wasn't sure when Greene will be ready to practice, but said Holik might be on the ice with the rest of the team Tuesday morning if his doctor's examination goes well this afternoon.

"I'm hopeful that maybe perhaps tomorrow (Holik will practice), but I don't know that for sure" Sutter said. "

Holik was injured on Oct. 18 in Washington and hasn't played since. He resumed skating last week.

***
Rolston skated at right wing today on a line with Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond at left wing and Mike Rupp at center. Sutter didn't say if Rolston would stay with those two if he plays Thursday, but did say he's going to keep his top two lines -- Zach Parise-Travis Zajac-Jamie Langenbrunner and Patrik Elias-Dainius Zubrus-Brian Gionta intact.

"We're not breaking up our top two lines," Sutter said. "They've been very good. We'll see. At this point in time, if they continue to play well, there's no need to do so (break up the top two lines). I like Zubes at center ice. We'll see how it all plays out here, but there's no reason to think we have to change anything with out top six guys as far as the way they're playing."

Starting Roslton out on the fourth line so he can get back in game shape makes sense, but where does he fit in when he's at full strength?

"We'll see how it all plays out," Sutter said. "A lot of things can happen between now and then. When he gets back in game shape and gets his timing back and things like that, there's ways you can work a guy in. He plays the power play. He kills penalties. There's ways around that."

Rolston admitted he was a little rusty today.

"I'm feeling OK," he said. "I'm just going to get sharper as practices go on, just catching passes and things like that. I've been out for a long time. But for the most part I felt good and I'm shooting for Thursday. I haven't talked to the coaches or Lou (Lamoriello) about that, but if I'm back in practice, that's what I'm expecting. I'm expecting to go there and play Thursday. But we'll make that decision in the next couple of days for sure."

Rolston said he no longer feels any discomfort in his ankle.

"I'm grateful that Lou was as patient as he was," Rolston said. "There were plenty of times where I was like, 'I'm ready to go. I'm ready to go.' And he was like, 'You're not ready to go,' and he was probably right. He was right. Unfortunately, ankle injuries take a long time. I'm glad it happened when it did and I still have the majority of the season left."

Rolston said he was "skating hard for at least the past eight days" under the supervision of team strength and conditioning coordinator Mike Vasalani and that he's in pretty good shape considering how much time he has missed.

"Today's practice wasn't that difficult for me as far as my wind," he said. "I was just trying to push myself every drill to get my wind because these guys have it already."

***
Madden was surprised how long it took his left ankle to heal. He was hit on the knob of the ankle by a shot from Florida's Nick Boynton in the second period of a 3-1 win over the Panthers on Nov. 20 at Prudential Center. He finished the game, but said his ankle swelled up when he took his skate off afterward.

"I've been hit plenty of times in the foot with the puck," he said. "It (usually) feels sore and you get some swelling out and you throw a boot on and you're ready to go. But (this time) I must have gotten hit in a bad spot because it took forever for the swelling to go out and it was hard to walk. It happens sometimes and it's unfortunate.

"It's funny. I didn't feel too much throughout the game and then I took my skate off and I could feel the swelling coming on, but I didn't really give it that much thought. I iced it like I normally do and when I woke up in the morning it was bad."

Madden confirmed what Devils general manager Lou Lamoriello said last week that he would have been able to play last week if needed, but the team was on a five-game winning streak before losing Saturday in Pittsburgh and there was no need to rush back before he was fully healed.

"It was one of those things where players in every dressing room that don't play at 100 percent (healthy), but the team was going good and maybe we were a little more cautious than we should have been, but it all worked out," he said.

Madden said he still has some soreness from the bruise because of its location.

"It's on the bone, so every time you get in the skate you (feel it), but it's not to the point where it's going to keep me out of the lineup anymore," he said.

Comments

[modnarm]

this is beyond fantastic!

[DS]

I just hope he isn't coming back too soon. I really want him to be 100 % sure and healthy.

Interesting how Rolston is back before Holik, who was supposed to be out for 3-4 weeks only. I guess Bobby's injury was a lot more serious than most people thought.

[MikeDeadworks]

:-)

[JohnnyB]

I think Rolston will be captain by next season

[Kelly]

Great news today!

What next, Marty is ahead of schedule? ;-)

Good to see P3L back up. Hope he plays Thursday!

[Salvatore from Garfield]

You're basing this on how many games he played last season...?

This is great news though. Almost too good to be true!

[JP]

Jimmy Dowd is filling in for E.J. Hradek this afternoon on NHL Home Ice on XM radio.

[Pearl Jammed]

This is good news all around! and Holik's injury was really bad, he did have the bone sticking out of his skin on his finger, which is why he couldn't skate until fully healed because if he gets a staph infection he could Die, let alone worrying about a setback. But slowly our guys are coming back. Hopefully we can now go on a roll because once the Forwards come back i expect them to need a week or 2 for the team as a whole to get used to playing together and i think then we could be a very tough team to beat. Couple that with 2 goalies who are playing pretty well(aside from one soft goal a game) and we have a very good team..... Hopefully

[JJ]

These injuries may just end up being a blessing in disguise. I could easily see Langenbrunner with Madden & Pandolfo and Rollie on the top line with Zach & Travis.

[Pearl Jammed]

i would be agreeable to those lines. I think thats what they should be anyway. Rolston i think brings more to the table for the Zajac and Zach than Langs does. What Langs would bring to the checking line is a real offensive presence. That said i think Clarkson has done real well with Madden and Pando when he played with them as well

[JJ]

As unlikely as it might seem it also wouldn't surprise me to see a Holik-Rupp-Pandolfo 4th line if we can somehow find someone who can actually score to play with Madden & Rolston. How sweet would it be to have three potent scoring lines rolling out there?

[Salvatore from Garfield]

JJ- I'm be hesitant about splitting pandolfo, rupp, and clarkson. I like what I saw from them in the few games they had together.

[panz]

jj i hope that is the case. with rolston on the top line with parise and zajac we will have 2 very good offensive lines and we can put langenloser back where he belongs on a checking line

[JJ]

Salvatore - I know believe me, they would be a great 4th line on ANY team, but then what do you do with Holik when he gets back? He can't play shutdown minutes anymore and it's not like you're gonna move Madden to wing. Ahhh, what a relief it is to have problems like this.

[modnarm]

maybe Sutter sees what Langs is doing to help Parise and Zajac better than us.. i still think Rolston should get a look there but will settle with him playing with Rupp.
Pandolfo-Rupp-Clarkson was a good line.. but PL3-Rupp-Rolston isn't bad either..
Pando-Madden-Clarkson are better at shutting down than what we've had, and we've missed Madolfo.

maybe Pandolfo-Madden-Rolston would work out, but i think it would be hampering Rolston's offense.

WHATEVER. Rolston on the 4th line is fine, they'll get more minutes and create a mismatch.
At least we have these issues and aren't faced with 6 injured starters anymore. yeesh.

[Puckster]

Excellent news. I wasn't expecting Rolston back for another couple of weeks. It looks like there's a good chance he'll come back either next game or shortly thereafter.

[Josh]

Great to hear that Rollie and Maddog are getting back at it, and even better news that Sutter is going to at least temporarily keep the lines the same.

Pando - Madden - Rolston would probably be a little risky right off the bat since two of the players are returning from injury. At the very least, Rolston is likely going to need to get phased into the lineup, since practice and game situations are way different. Madden missed considerably less time and hopefully he's healed up completely so that we can avoid having first line centers terrorize us the way Croslkin did.

[Sean]

I am def for putting Langenbrunner back with Pando-Madden. It doesn't matter who you are, if you have Parise on your line, you'll get chances to score. It just matters what you do with those chances. Zajac has greatly improved. I'd like to see Rolston get some chances from Parise. Langenbrunner will get more of a chance to score off the counter-attack with Madden anyway.

Elias-Zubrus-Gio
Parise-Zajac-Rolston
Pando-Madden-Langenbrunner
Tallackson-Rupp-Clarkson (until Holik comes back)

[RG9]

i guess there is light at the end of the tunnel, but lets still not get too excited!

[Steve]

Sutter said he isnt breaking up the lines so for now the thought of rolston with parise and zajac isnt going to happen, but at the beginnign of the year when the team was struggling to score goals the line changes happened very quickly, if we follow saturdays game up with a slow start I wouldnt be surprised to see the lines juggled if rolston and madden play

[DevsfaninPGH]

"Madden was surprised how long it took his left ankle to heal..." It's called getting older, John.

[Kellyn]

It agree that it would be interesting to see if Brian Rolston would mesh well playing the wing on a line with Zach Parise and centered Travis Zajac. Zach and Travis have played together for a while and have really good chemistry. With thirten goals and almost as many assists, we know Zach has no trouble scoring, and Travis seems to have recovered from a bit of a rough start and is chipping in a bunch of assists and even a goal or two (which isn't terribly unusual because most centers tend to pass the puck more than they shoot it). Adding a healthy Rolston to the mix could potentially give the Devils a pretty awesome scoring line, and if Elias-Zubrus-Gionta keeps performing the way it has been things could be looking up offensively for this team.

[HF]

TG-can u please ask coach sutter what he sees in Langenbrunner's chemistry with zajac and parise? Ive watched the devs all season and I just dont see what this guy brings to the table right now. I remember what he used to do ie. played with an edge and scored big goals. He's just not the same player since last year's injury. I understand that Rolston should be broken into the lineup slowly but Rolston is being paid by Lou to be a top 6 forward therefore sutter has to utilize that talent and asset and put him in a spot where he can succeed. Sutter has been getting a free pass for over a year now, when will someone from the media start standing up to him regarding his lineup and line combos?

[HF]

sutter needs to watch 2003 tapes of madden-pando-langenbrunner. With less pressure on Langs to score and be offensive, he can concentrate on the hitting and defensive play that will balance out this team. Wake up sutter!!!!!

[Jim B]

Elias Zubrus Gionta
Parise Zajac Rolston
Pando Madden Langs
Rupp Holik Clarkson

I know Rolston is not a Right Winger, but he would still do a better job than Langenbrunner and I would put Langs on the 3rd line like in 2003 and hope some magic still there.