Kovalchuk back in Devils lineup after benching
Ilya Kovalchuk
Ilya Kovalchuk rejoined the New Jersey Devils' lineup on Sunday  one night after he was benched by coach John MacLean for an undisclosed reason.
 The $100 million forward  in the first year of a 15-year deal with the Devils  met with the media before New Jersey faced the New York Rangers. Kovalchuk provided no information for why he was forced to sit out Saturday's home game against Buffalo.
 Kovalchuk said it was MacLean's decision to bench him  and the reason behind it would stay between him and the coach.
 "I'm just a player and I'm just going to show up tonight and play " Kovalchuk said. "I want to be on the ice. That's the bottom line. I'm going to be tonight. I'm excited to be back and be with the team again."
 "It was tough because I love the game so much " Kovalchuk said. "That's probably the worst when you watch your team  especially losing."
 Kovalchuk said this wasn't the first time he was held out of a game as a healthy scratch.
 "A long time ago  but it happened before. It wasn't new for me " he said.
 For the second straight day  MacLean refused to say what led to the benching. He reiterated that he is standing by his decision to hold out the dynamic scorer  even though the team has struggled in the coach's rookie season.
 Whatever the problem was  MacLean said it's totally resolved between him and Kovalchuk. Neither MacLean nor Kovalchuk would say if the star player missed a team meeting.
 "The issue is over with " MacLean said. "It's an internal matter. We both know  and today we're getting ready for the Rangers game.
 "He'll be playing and hopefully playing a lot and burying some of the great opportunities he's been getting. He'll be put in a role to be used to the best of his ability."
Kovalchuk. Neither MacLean nor Kovalchuk would say if the star player missed a team meeting.
[TGT] rejoined the New Jersey Devils' lineup on Sunday  one night after [TGT] was benched by coach John MacLean for an undisclosed reason.
 The $100 million forward  in the first year of a 15-year deal with the Devils  met with the media before New Jersey faced the New York Rangers. [TGT] provided no information for why [TGT] was forced to sit out Saturday's home game against Buffalo.
 [TGT] said it was MacLean's decision to bench [TGT]  and the reason behind it would stay between [TGT] and the coach.
 "I'm just a player and I'm just going to show up tonight and play [TGT] said. "I want to be on the ice. That's the bottom line. I'm going to be tonight. I'm excited to be back and be with the team again."
 "It was tough because I love the game so much " [TGT] said. "That's probably the worst when you watch your team  especially losing.[TGT] said this wasn't the first time [TGT] was held out of a game as a healthy scratch.
 "A long time ago  but it happened before. It wasn't new for [TGT] " [TGT] said.
 For the second straight day  MacLean refused to say what led to the benching. He reiterated that he is standing by his decision to hold out the dynamic scorer  even though the team has struggled in the coach's rookie season.
 Whatever the problem was  MacLean said it's totally resolved between him and [TGT]. Neither MacLean nor [TGT] would say if the star player missed a team meeting.
 "The issue is over with " MacLean said. "It's an internal matter. We both know  and today we're getting ready for the Rangers game.
 "He'll be playing and hopefully playing a lot and burying some of the great opportunities he's been getting. He'll be put in a role to be used to the best of his ability."
Kovalchuk. Neither MacLean nor [TGT] would say if the star player missed a team meeting.