Sheldon Keefe Explains Why Devils' Game-Winner Against Blackhawks Might Be His Favorite Of Season

Jack Hughes' 13th goal of the season was the game-winner for the New Jersey Devils.

Like the 16,514 New Jersey Devils fans at Prudential Center, MSG Networks play-by-play announcer Bill Spaulding could not contain his excitement in the third period of Saturday afternoon's game. 

"Bratt's on with fresh legs. He knocks it to the front and Kaiser's got it. Bratt trying to keep him from clearing, and he finishes him right into the wall. What a play by Jesper Bratt! Devils are fresh. Hughes shoots, he scores!"

As Jack Hughes skated towards the bench to celebrate his 13th goal of the season, he pointed to Nico Hischier, Timo Meier, and Dawson Mercer to acknowledge their phenomenal 90-second shift in the offensive zone before he and his linemates jumped onto the ice and scored.

"That is textbook play," Head coach Sheldon Keefe said. "Dominant o-zone shift, o-zone line change, and then talk about determination. I mean (Bratt) comes on the ice on that line change and doesn't just come on and dip his toe in; he comes on to make a difference. Obviously, Jack ends up benefiting from that and gets a great finish.

"That might have been my favorite goal of the year in terms of how one thing led to the next and ultimately the game-winner," he continued.

It was a team goal as head coach Sheldon Keefe shared that his players on the bench also contributed as everyone was engaged. 

"The guys on the bench were a big part of that, too, because they are calling it," he said. "They can see it, and that is a good sign as a coach when the players are taking charge of that moment." 

It was one of four goals New Jersey scored in the third period, leading to a 4-1 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks at Prudential Center.

Entering the final 20 minutes, the Devils were down 1-0. Keefe challenged his players to get to the next level during the second intermission.

"I challenged our guys to be exactly that," Keefe said of his second intermission message. "More determined and competitive, go out and earn a goal."

Dawson Mercer tied the game 2:45 into the final frame. In the span of two minutes and six seconds, the Devils scored three goals. Hughes scored the go-ahead goal, while Hischier and Meier scored 18 seconds apart to put the game away.

"Today was basically just a game of us managing our own mistakes and playing good with the puck and trying to minimize our mistakes," Bratt said. "They have good, skilled guys that know what to do on the rush if you keep feeding that. So we wanted them to come into their own zone, stop and work there, and that's how we stayed successful."

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