Cory Schneider Out for Pittsburgh Game; Status Update to Come Sunday

Cory Schneider has been one of, if not, the most important player on the New Jersey Devils since last season.  The goaltender has earned more than his fair share of victories for New Jersey despite their performances since 2014 (and arguably parts of 2013).  An injury to him would be massive blow for the team.  And that happened on Friday night in Dallas, which turned out to be a 2-4 loss. He was injured in the third period.  As he robbed Jason Spezza at the right post during a power play, Schneider's movement to the right led to his right leg coming into contact with the right post. The net did not give way, causing something to happen.  Schneider left the game in pain and did not return.

He won't be returning on Sunday night.  The New Jersey Devils called up Yann Danis from Albany on Saturday. This is Danis' second call-up of the season. He filled in as a backup to Keith Kinkaid way back in October when Schneider was away, attending the birth of his son.  Shortly after the news, the team announced at their official website and social media channels that Schneider will be out tomorrow with what is currently called a lower body injury. (Note: There's a video of the play and the injury to Schneider.) Also, the team stated that there will be a status update tomorrow on his condition. This will be a crucial update.  It will determine what the Devils do for the remaining five weeks of the season.  If you think the Devils miss Mike Cammalleri, then it will pale in comparison to how much they'll miss Schneider if he will be out for a significant amount of time.  Short of Kinkaid playing brilliantly, of course.

The status update will determine how long we see Kinkaid and Danis as the team's goaltending tandem. Danis has been the #1 goalie in Albany. Despite a poor save percentage this season, the team has been rather successful with him in net. There's no good time for the injury to Schneider, like any injury, to occur. The timing is especially poor as Scott Wedgewood is out with a shoulder injury according to this post by Tom Gulitti at Fire & Ice.  Gulitti's post also notes that with Danis up with New Jersey, Albany will have to play with Ken Appleby and a local goalie on an amateur tryout deal, Doug Pippy, for their game in St. John tonight.  New Jersey isn't likely to make the postseason but Albany certainly is. So this undercuts what they're trying to do as their season nears its end.

Hopefully, Kinkaid puts in a good performance. As well as the skaters in front of him since they won't have #35 for at least one game to bail them out when things go awry.  Most of all, I hope the status update reveals it's a minor injury. Anything major not only affects the end of this season but it might even affect the next one.  We'll find out more later.