Devils' Johnny Kovacevic hurt on Tyrel Bauer hit vs. Jets

This one looked bad right away. Kovacevic didn't hang around the bench to test it out. He went straight to the room.

Amanda Stein

@amandacstein

Johnny Kovacevic is hurt and being helped off the ice, he's going right down the tunnel. Bower went after Kovacevic with a cross-check and Kovacevic went down in an awkward fashion. #NJDevils

Bauer got 2 minutes for interference on the play. From the Winnipeg side, the read was that Kovacevic's knee looked to buckle, and he was angry enough on the way off to slam his stick on the boards first.

Mike McIntyre

@mikemcintyrewpg

Tyrel Bauer is headed to the box for interference after he takes out Johnny Kovacevic, whose knee looks to buckle. The New Jersey defenceman is in some pain, slams his stick on the boards and immediately heads off the ice.

The knee is what makes this scary. Kovacevic had a minor procedure on his right knee this offseason after a 2025-26 season where a knee injury cost him 44 games. He opened this year on the injured list, and the Devils only activated him on October 10. He was a month into getting his legs back, and now this. He also isn't a throw-in: New Jersey got him from Montreal in 2024 and gave him a 5-year, $20 million extension after an 81-game 2024-25 where he played close to 20 minutes a night.

Then the 2nd intermission came and went, and he wasn't on the ice when the Devils came out for the 3rd.

Amanda Stein

@amandacstein

No Johnny Kovacevic as the #NJDevils emerge from the locker room for the start of the third period.

That means 5 defensemen for a full period on the road, and more minutes for everyone else on the blue line. The Devils came into Winnipeg at 13-5-0 and rolling, and the Jets came in at 7-8-3. Whatever the final turns out to be, the score matters less than what Sheldon Keefe says about the knee afterward. A guy with this knee history heading straight to the room and yelling on the way off is never a good sign. If this is another long one, the Devils have a hole on the right side again and need to figure out who fills those minutes.