Luke Hughes passionate on-ice outburst contradicted in postgame comments

Well, that was frustrating. Despite outshooting their opponent by 23, the New Jersey Devils still found a way to lose against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday night.

In a heartbreaking 4-3 loss on the road — the Devils really pulled out a great offensive effort. Superstar center Jack Hughes set a new career high in shots during a single game with 13. Although not one wound up in the back of the net, it was still the most shot in a single game of any NHL player this year.

Defenseman Luke Hughes — at 21-years-old — also had a good night. Luke immediately followed his older brother Jack in shots on goal during the Dec. 19th matchup with six of his own. At 17:10 in the third period, Luke's wrist shot sailed past goaltender Elvis Merzlikins. Thank you very much. He also tallied an assist to another Devils' goal that was scored just over one minute later.

Despite all of this, we still saw frustrations rightfully boil over with Luke Hughes repeatedly banging his stick against ice following the Blue Jacket's empty netter.

Did he have a right to be frustrated? Yes. Has he played better? Also an easy yes.

However, his comments postgame about the resiliency of the team just don't match up with his actions.

"We have a really resilient group," Luke Hughes said in the locker room postgame. "Obviously, not the outcome we wanted, but for all of our guys to play 60 like that and push to the very end is a very important thing. And if we play like that, we're going to win hockey games."

However, Luke's comments on his brother's performance, in addition to the need for the team to just keep plowing forward, were certainly on par.

"The goalie was playing really (well), so we were just trying to get it in from anywhere, and he's got a very sneaky shot. were really just trying to get it in there ... he is the heart and soul of our team. He pushes us to the very end and he makes you want to compete even more."

"At the end of the day, we just have to keep pushing and put the puck in the back of the net," Luke Hughes went on to say.

But while both of these may be true — it strikes as odd that a player who essentially threw a well-warranted temper outburst is the one speaking to the media about the importance of resiliency. Perhaps someone should remind the youngest Hughes brother that actions speak louder than words.