Ilya Kovalchuk missed practice Monday and the Devils winger would need a “miraculous recovery” to play Tuesday against the Hurricanes, coach Pete DeBoer told NorthJersey.com.

Kovalchuk pulled his leg muscle in Thursday’s win over the Flyers, and received treatment at the Devils headquarters Monday.

“I worked out a little bit, so it’s definitely better than a couple of days ago, and we’ll see tomorrow,” Kovalchuk told the website.

DeBoer was much less optimistic his star would be ready when the Devils play host to Carolina.

“I’m not going to paint myself into a corner, but the fact that he wasn’t out there [Monday] (for practice) speaks to where he’s at for [Tuesday],” DeBoer said.