New Jersey Devils survive Frozen Frenzy with Jack Hughes overtime winner

The New Jersey Devils got away with one on Tuesday night, and nobody thought that’s how it was going to be described after 40 minutes of play. The Devils dominated the Detroit Red Wings to start the game, but they could not put them away on the scoreboard.

They did score the first goal of the game, which is a feat in of itself, but the Red Wings kept pace despite being wildly outshot the entire time. The Devils had 30 shots through two periods, while the Red Wings had 14. It was domination in every way except on the scoreboard. After two periods, the score was 4-3 Devils.

Now, it’s nice to see the Devils score four goals, but the dominance deserved more. They swarmed John Gibson in net. They got goals from Anthony Mantha, Evan Rodrigues, Nico Hischier, and Jesper Bratt. All of them NEEDED goals. 

Unfortunately, the Devils clearly ran out of gas in the third period. They were sluggish, and the Red Wings looked like the team with their legs. The Devils lost to the Ottawa Senators on Monday night, so the issue is understandable, but as dominant as the Devils were, a one-goal game for a team without its legs seemed like a recipe for disaster. 

And it was. The Alex DeBrincat line scored again, with the American lighting the lamp for the second time in the game and fourth time this season. His connection with Emmitt Finnie was the difference maker in the game, as they accounted for all four goals for Detroit.

The Devils survived the rest of the game. It shouldn’t have been that way. Jesper Bratt missed two empty nets, and Jesper Boqvist missed one as well. Arseny Gristyuk and Nico Hischier were both absolutely robbed by Gibson, who played decently well despite the final score. 

With the game on the line, the Devils needed their hero.

Jack Hughes bails out the Devils again

Jack Hughes does what he does best: scores in overtime. He got behind the defense, and Jesper Bratt got a pass right on his stick. It was a choppy overtime to start, with the Devils having an offside call against them, and they almost got a penalty when Lucas Raymond skated into Nico Hischier’s elbow, but the team came out with a much-needed win.

Sheldon Keefe threw the lines in a blender with Luke Evangelista out with an illness. He should hopefully be back by Thursday, which gives Keefe an interesting decision to make. 

The new Anthony Mantha-Evan Rodrigues-Stefan Noesen line played well, and Amadeus Lombardi got another unfortunate penalty. Dawson Mercer finally looked good playing in the top six. Keefe has a decision to make, and that’s not even including when Connor Brown returns. 

But that’s a Thursday decision. For now, the Devils should appreciate the win and use this as a chance to reset at 3-3. 

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