Andrew Gross

Staff Writer, @AGrossRecord

For the first time this season, the Devils will not start the same six defensemen as they face the Ducks at Honda Center with their five-game winning streak on the line.

French rookie Yohann Auvitu, 27, who has one goal and two assists in the first 15 games, is out tonight with an upper-body issue and Jon Merrill, 24, activated off injured reserve on Tuesday after breaking his right index finger in the preseason on Oct. 1, will make his season’s debut.

“Yohann is hurt, nothing too serious as of now,” Devils coach John Hynes said. “He’s just a little too banged up to play.”

Merrill had a goal and four assists in 47 games last season, which was cut short by a shoulder injury that required offseason surgery.

“I can’t wait,” Merrill said. “It seems like forever. I can’t wait to get that first one under my belt.”

Merrill said the key for him, in his first game back, was just to “keep it simple.”

But he did acknowledge, since he has plenty of experience coming back from injuries, there is a tendency to try and do too much now that he’s back on the ice.

“I think so,” Merrill said. “You’re nervous going in and you’re excited to be back out playing. I’ve done it a few times, unfortunately and I know the key to success is not to try and force it.”

Merrill said he found out he was playing as he came off the ice from the morning skate. He said he was not sure who he would be paired with. Auvitu has been paired with Ben Lovejoy. John Moore was Lovejoy’s partner earlier in the season before being moved to a pair with Kyle Quincey, a left-handed shot playing on the right side.

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Hynes said Michael Cammalleri would not be rejoining the Devils on this road trip. Cammalleri will miss his fourth straight game tonight as he remains with his family in New Jersey.

The Devils also play the Kings on Saturday afternoon before concluding this trip on Monday at San Jose. The Devils then play home games next Wednesday (Maple Leafs) and Friday (Red Wings).

“He’s not going to be on this road trip,” Hynes said. “It is a personal matter. This is not an injury by any situation. This is a family personal matter for him that he’s dealing with. Things are going in the right direction and we would anticipate him being back with us at some point next week.”

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Blake Pietila, 23, recalled from Albany (AHL) on Wednesday with Taylor Hall out three to four weeks after undergoing arthroscopic surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee, will be the spare forward tonight.

Pietila also had a seven-game stint with the Devils last season with one goal and one assist.

“Obviously, it’s nice,” Pietila said of being brought up. “I don’t think I’m playing tonight but any time you get a callup, you’re doing something right in the American League.”

Pietila has six goals – including a hat trick – and five assists in 12 games for Albany while playing mainly with John Quenneville and Ben Sexton and also seeing power play time.

Pietila said the Devils’ coaching staff, when he was sent down in training camp, put an emphasis on him “working on my offensive game.”

“I’ve had the opportunity to play on the power play there and I’ve been able to pop a few pucks in the net,” Pietila said. “The time I was here last year really helped me out.”

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Hynes said Hall’s injury was not a “nagging” issue.

“It wasn’t anything that was nagging him,” Hynes said. “It was an odd situation where he kind of came into the rink (in Dallas) that day (on Tuesday for the morning skate) and said something feels a little bit not right. It wasn’t even that serious. We were considering having him go on the ice and try to skate a little bit and see how it felt, see if it was going to be an injury or something that didn’t feel right for him. But we just took the safer route and make sure he was going to get looked at before he did it.”

Hall wound up flying back to New Jersey from Dallas on Tuesday, had an MRI and underwent surgery on Wednesday.

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