Jack Hughes scored two of New Jersey’s three power-play goals during the Devils’ 4-1 victory over the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday in Newark, N.J.
Nico Hischier and Timo Meier each had a goal with two assists while Luke Hughes added three helpers for the Devils (34-32-4, 72 points), who are in desperation mode to move into playoff position.
Converting on 3-for-4 power-play chances on Thursday, New Jersey is 5-for-7 with the man advantage while winning its past two games after going 0-for-12 while losing four of the previous five.
New Jersey cooled off the Jets (44-20-5, 93 points), who are in the mix for the Central Division title and had won three straight amid a 14-5-0 stretch. Nikolaj Ehlers scored for Winnipeg, which managed just 19 shots on Jake Allen (18 saves) and went 0-for-4 on the power play.
With the game tied 1-1 and New Jersey a man up, Hischier was well positioned near the net to convert a puck thrown on net by Meier at 5:59 of the third period.
At 11:52 of the third, Hughes ripped a shot by Winnipeg’s Laurent Brossoit (37 saves), who had recorded shutouts in each of his last two starts. The tally capped Hughes’ fourth multi-goal game of the season.
Meier contributed an empty-netter 49 seconds remaining.
Following a scoreless opening period, New Jersey came out with a spirited approach in the second. The Devils forced Brossoit to make three key saves in the first minute of the frame, in which they owned a 23-9 shot advantage.
Off a Brossoit kick-save rebound, Hughes was in the right place to slide the puck in and snap a seven-game goal drought at the nine-minute mark of the middle period.
Taking advantage of a tired group of Devils on the ice, Ehlers picked up the puck in the neutral zone and weaved his way around and through some New Jersey defenders. He concluded the surge by beating Allen low on the glove side at 16:47 of the second for his third goal in the teams’ two-game season series.
–Field Level Media