New Jersey Devils forward Jack Hughes earned three points in his team's loss to the Washington Capitals.
New Jersey Devils forward Jack Hughes earned three points in his team's loss to the Washington Capitals.
By the final horn, New Jersey Devils forward Jack Hughes earned three points in his team's 5-4 loss to the Washington Capitals on Saturday night.
Entering the final frame, New Jersey was down 4-2 and needed to regain momentum.
Within the first two minutes of the period, Hughes put the puck on the tape of Stefan Noesen's stick as the latter was positioned near the Capitals' crease. The red light went off, and 23-year-old Hughes picked up the primary assist on Noesen's first power-play goal of the night.
Two minutes later, Hughes was at it again.
Ondrej Palat forced a turnover in the Capitals zone and passed the puck to the 2019 first-overall pick. He fired the puck toward opposing goaltender Charlie Lindgren. It hit Jesper Bratt's skate and passed the goal line to tie the game at 4-4 with 15:45 remaining.
A miscommunication between goaltender Jake Allen and his defense gave Washington a 5-4 lead. Allen's misplaying of the puck seconds later left the Devils down by two with 5:56 left in the period.
While on the power play, Nico Hischier beat Nic Dowd in the face-off circle, which led to Hughes getting possession of the puck. His shot toward the net hit Timo Meier and bounced right to Noesen for his second goal of the night.
Hughes earned three assists for the third time this season. He is tied with Colorado Avalanche forward Nathan MacKinnon for the most in the NHL.
While the team's comeback fell short, Hughes earned his sixth three-point outing of the season.
Through 333 NHL games, the Devils superstar has earned three or more points in 32 games, surpassing Scott Gomez (31) for fourth all-time in franchise history.
The top three are as follows: Patrik Elias (74), John MacLean (46), and Kirk Muller (43).
Additionally, Saturday night marked Hughes' 46th career multi-assist game, which tied MacLean for eighth all-time in franchise history.
The young center has five points over his last two games. He will prepare to face the New York Rangers on Monday night. Hughes' 20 points (11 goals, nine assists) in 20 games against New Jersey's Hudson River rival is the most earned among any league opponent.
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