BOSTON — With The Big Shot hoping to return to the lineup here tonight, coach Pete DeBoer says the job is to fit Ilya Kovalchuk into the Devils’ way of play, not the other way around.
It hasn’t always seemed spelled out, but with the Devils showing spunk and determination, winning 3-of-4 while Kovalchuk has been out with a groin injury, DeBoer made the point.
“We buckled down, really concentrated on fundamentals and systems,” DeBoer said yesterday. “When we do that, personnel can be interchangeable.
“Having said that, in order to get our game to the next level, we have to incorporate the Kovalchuks and [Travis] Zajacs around the world into that philosophy.”
It might mean less puck-lugging, more passing, more dumping, more forechecking. For the moment, the Devils will just welcome him back, if he plays tonight.
Kovalchuk has been out four games, since Nov. 3, when he suffered a groin injury in the final minutes of a loss in Philadelphia. He’d been hopeful earlier, after special treatments, but reached a plateau that prompted three days of rest before joining practice yesterday.
“I feel good so I’m going on the trip. We’ll see [today]. I’ll skate one more time and we’ll make our decision,” said Kovalchuk, who visited team doctors, underwent an MRI and utilized fitness machines in his treatment. “Those three days made a very [big] difference.
“If I go play, I have to make sure I’m 100 percent. Why would I go there at 60 percent, especially with the way the team played? All those guys in the lineup, they deserve to be there.”
Kovalchuk skated with recent scratch Rod Pelley, and even assistant coach Larry Robinson on a fifth line in practice.
“Nice to play with legends,” Kovalchuk said.
“He got through practice. We cut him a little short. We didn’t want to push the issue because he felt good,” DeBoer said.
When he returns, the lifelong left wing might return to the right wing “experiment” with Zach Parise and now Adam Henrique at center.
DeBoer said the game plan will remain as it has all season.
“We don’t change anything philosophically, other than the power play, you don’t have the one-timer there,” DeBoer said. “We don’t make changes based around him, but you’re obviously a different team.
“When he’s in the lineup he has the ability to back teams off, create things out of nothing. It’s a weapon, that only a handful of guys in the league can do that.”
It’s always an issue, whether a team is best served by pounding a star into square holes, or molding the team around the super talent. DeBoer seems to favor the former.
* Johan Hedberg is expected to start for a second straight game, after winning a 3-2 shootout in Washington Saturday. Martin Brodeur is expected to face the Sabres tomorrow in Buffalo. Devils’ five-game road trip ends in Tampa Saturday and Florida Monday.