The New Jersey Devils lost a heartbreaker on Thursday night to the Columbus Blue Jackets. They staged a huge comeback, scoring their first goal with three minutes left in the third period and adding another goal less than 90 seconds later. It looked like the Devils were going to tie the game with the pressure Columbus was facing and how tired their goalie Elvis Merzlikins was. Some of that exhaustion was because of Jack Hughes.
Hughes peppered 13 shots Merzlikins way. The Blue Jackets netminder stopped each and every one of them. It was one of the best goaltending performances we’ve seen all year. Of course, the Devils have been able to bring out the best in opposing goalies.
Luckily, the Devils avoided the shutout this time, even if it wasn’t Hughes who let it rip. Still, 13 shots on goal is incredibly impressive. It’s only been done 73 times in the history of the NHL, including once by Michael Ryder. We’re not sure why, but we were compelled to mention him in this conversation.
Only 25 players have exceeded what Jack Hughes has done, with Alexander Ovechkin and Nathan MacKinnon the only active players to best Hughes’ 13. Ovechkin hit 14 shots last October against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Ray Bourque holds the record, and second place isn’t close. Bourque had a ridiculous 19 shots in a game for the Boston Bruins on March 21, 1991. That’s three more shots than anyone has ever taken in a game.
As far as the Devils franchise is concerned, only one player has more shots than Hughes today: Claude Lemieux. The Devils first-ever Conn Smythe winner actually performed the task in December of 1992. He put up 14 shots against the Ottawa Senators. Unlike Hughes Lemieux scored twice in what ended up being a 3-3 tie.
Jack Hughes's 13 shots were only bested by Claude Lemieux in New Jersey Devils franchise history
Hughes scoreless night might be surprising on paper, but this actually happens often. Hughes joins Ryder and 10 others as players with 13 shots and no goals in a game. Some of the names include Bobby Orr, Brett Hull, Phil Esposito, Pavel Bure, and Brendan Shanahan.
This also isn’t Hughes’s first foray into these types of numbers. While, yes, this is obviously Hughes’s career high, he did have 11 shots against the San Jose Sharks last year in a 7-2 rout. We expect Hughes to one day hold this record, and who knows, maybe he will shoot for 20 and get the NHL record.
Stats via the NHL record book. First reported by Nick Cahill,