NEWARK — Michael Cammalleri won’t play for the Devils when they host the New York Islanders on Saturday, and the veteran forward isn’t happy about the healthy scratch.
“You want to be a part of it,” Cammalleri said. “I’m displeased to not be in the lineup, certainly.”
Devante Smith-Pelly and Joseph Blandisi will jump into the Devils’ lineup for Cammalleri and Sergey Kalinin, who cleared waivers on Saturday.
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Cammalleri hasn’t scored a goal since Jan. 3, when he netted one in a 3-1 road win over the Carolina Hurricanes. That adds up to a stretch of 18 games without a goal and one goal in his past 33 games. He has 10 goals total in 51 games this season.
But coach John Hynes said the decision came down to more than just goals.
“That’s one part of it. Michael’s a goal scorer at this level. He’s proven that,” Hynes said. “He’s obviously struggled to be able to do that, but it’s not always just on goal scoring. Some things that can possibly lead up to that. Those are the things we’ll talk about personally with the player, but it’s all in a situation where we need to try to help him get back to being a very productive player for us.”
Before getting hurt in 2015-16, Cammalleri posted 14 goals and 24 points in 42 games, and in his first season with the Devils, Cammalleri scored 27 goals in 68 games.
A healthy scratch is unfamiliar territory for the 14-season NHL veteran, but he has been happy with his play despite the lack of scoring.
“I’ve been, in my opinion, committed to everything we’re trying to do all over the ice,” Cammalleri said. “The puck just hasn’t gone in, and I’ll try to continue to search for solutions. It’s something I’m confident changes.”
The Devils have a quick turnaround with another game against the Islanders on Sunday
“We made the decision for tonight’s game, sat down with him, took a step back, talked about some things that we think can help him, and see if we can get him going.”
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Chris Ryan may be reached at cryan@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @ChrisRyan_NJ. Find NJ.com Devils on Facebook.
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