Jack Hughes scores the biggest goal of his season, beating Montreal in overtime

The New Jersey Devils might finally be out of their funk. After dispatching the Boston Bruins on Wednesday night 5-1, finally seeing that offensive explosion that's been missing since Christmas. Then, on Saturday night, the Devils saw offense again.

They took more than 40 shots against the Montreal Canadiens, the hottest team in the National Hockey League. The Canadiens have been on a scorcher that has them in the playoff race, holding a Wild Card spot as of this writing. Yet, the Canadiens did not sit back. Jake Allen played well enough, but the Canadiens still put three goals on the board, which matched the Devils' output in regulation.

It was a fun game for just about everyone except Jack Hughes. The new lines weren't exactly working for him, as he was on the ice for three goals against and no goals for. There was some bad luck, as Hughes was on the ice for four high-danger chances and only three against at 5v5 according to Natural Stat Trick. Still, going into overtime, the Devils needed the best out of Hughes.

Coming into this game, the Devils had been terrible in overtime, and the Canadiens were 5-2 in the extra session. They were the inverse of each other (the Devils were 2-5 going into this game in OT). Part of the Devils' struggles were Hughes's lack of offensive impact and impactful mistakes in overtime. He was too unfocused with his play.

That was not the case on Saturday. He was always in control of the puck when it was on the stick, and he knew exactly what was possible and where he wanted to go with a pass or a shot. He was just waiting for his opportunity, which finally came with less than a minute left in the period.

Jack Hughes scores his biggest goal of the season against the Canadiens

This was Hughes' sixth game-winning goal of the season, but it was by far his biggest. It's his second overtime goal, with the first coming in a win over the New York Islanders in November. He also had the game-winner against Detroit in a 5-4 win, but his goal actually made it 5-3, so at the time, it was an insurance goal.

Hughes has the game-winning goal in both games against the Canadiens, but the win in early November was once again an insurance goal that helped fend off the Canadiens. It also played at a time when Montreal was 4-8-1, so it's not the same team.

The Devils also help hold off the Canadiens in the standings, as they aren't positive the team will secure one of those three Metropolitan Division playoff spots. They need to take points from everyone, as the race is going to be insane down the stretch. Thank you Jack Hughes for making his one opportunity count.