The New Jersey Devils number one overall pick has loads of talent. With that said, there are going to be nights where he looks like a rookie.
The New Jersey Devils played an okay game against the San Jose Sharks. They played well in the first period to come out to a 2-0 lead on the road. Then in the second period, they didn’t play very well and San Jose came all the way back and tied it. Then nobody took over in the third so overtime would be needed to decide the game. Logan Couture scored on a sweet play made by Brent Burns and Evander Kane to give the Sharks the win.
One thing that led to San Jose tying the game was a short-handed goal by Marcus Sorensen. He was allowed to score because of a tough play by Jack Hughes. He tried to thread the needle through the middle of the ice multiple times on the power play. The pass was behind Kyle Palmieri twice and on the second one it allowed the Sharks to go the other way short-handed and Sorensen made no mistake.
It was the type of mistake that you might expect from an 18-year-old. Hughes is the youngest player in the National Hockey League and he looked like it last night. The key for him is to learn from it. If the pass isn’t there, especially on the power play, either make a different pass or shoot it. He is a pass-first player and that is okay but every now and then he needs to get it on the net.
Hughes has so much talent and all of the mistakes he makes are usually mental mistakes. Coaching is something that can help fix these issues. Once he figures out how to harness his talent, he can become one of the elite players in the league.
Jack Hughes is going to have the ability to forget about this game quickly. There are still three more games left on this western road trip for him to get right back at it. They are headed to SoCal to play the Los Angeles King and Anaheim Ducks in a weekend back to back before making their one trip to play the Vegas Golden Knights.