Jack Hughes Leads New Jersey Devils To Win For First Time Of Many
The New Jersey Devils began the preseason with a split-squad, but Jaaaaaaaaaack Hughes’ big night stole the show in New Jersey against the Boston Bruins
The New Jersey Devils had a split-squad night on Monday when half of the group took on the Montreal Canadiens north of the Border and the other half took on the Boston Bruins at the Prudential Center. Both games had the proper amount of intrigue for the first night of preseason, but one particular storyline took over the night and it is the one we all wanted to see most.
Just to go over the game in Montreal a little bit, it is worth noting a few things. The Devils lost the game by a final score of 4-2. It was tied at two until Montreal scored late and then added an empty netter. The Devils sent a team to Montreal with a far less developed lineup than their one in New Jersey, but there were still some standouts.
Will Butcher looked amazing for the Devils and didn’t hesitate to get the puck on net and it led to him scoring his first goal of the preseason. They also got great play from Nico Hischier and Kyle Palmieri who made some great plays on the top line for that team. They are going to be a great line with Taylor Hall in 2019-20 if the coaching staff decides to keep them together.
The main storyline, of course, came from their home game against the Boston Bruins. Their lineup was filled with the new faces that they acquired over the summer in Nikita Gusev, P.K. Subban, and Jack Hughes. The Devils got exactly what they wanted from all three of them, but Hughes stood out above everyone in either of the two games.
He scored the first goal of the Devils’ preseason on the power play to tie the game with the Bruins. He wasn’t done. Boston tied the game with 49 seconds left in regulation forcing overtime. Hughes wasn’t done. He scored the overtime winner on a beautiful give and go with Nikita Gusev and the Devils defeated the Bruins 4-3. It was an incredible Devils preseason debut for Hughes who has a lot of hype to live up to.
The number-one overall pick comes with a lot of expectations as far as being an offensive player. He is off to a great start. He looked like he belonged out there and wasn’t at all physically intimidated by the opposition, especially in the attacking zone. He obviously has a long way to go with his defensive game, and this wasn’t necessarily the Brad Marchand led Boston Bruins, but he is never going to be an all-world defender. What he can be is one of the best scorers and playmakers in the league. He made some passes to Gusev and Jesper Bratt that caused the crowd to noticeably gasp.
Related Story. So many wonderful Devils debuts. light
It is still to be determined whether or not he is going to single-handedly change the way this team attacks and is perceived by opponents, but he is on the right track right off the bat. He is also playing with some great players so that will for sure help him out as he gets his NHL career underway.