James Nichols
Who else but Jack Hughes to put the nail in the coffin of Thursday night’s New Jersey Devils victory over their rivals, the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden.
Although they didn’t score halfway through the first period, it was a strong start for the Devils who held an 8-1 shot advantage by the 10:00 mark of the opening frame.
And although the Devils continued to possess the puck, the Rangers struck first when Vladamir Gavrikov’s shot from the blueline found twine to give New York a 1-0 lead at the 15:20 mark.
35 seconds later, the officials whistled Rangers forward Gabe Perreault for holding Hughes, sending the Devils to the games first power play.
The Devils won the opening draw of the man advantage. From the left circle, Jesper Bratt fed Connor Brown in the slot who redirected the puck on Jonathan Quick. The Rangers goaltender made the initial save, but Devils captain Nico Hischier batted the airborne rebound over the goal line to tie the game at one goal each.
Bratt’s assist on Hischier’s goal is the 500th point in his career.
Before the first period could end, the Devils took the lead when Arseny Gristyuk‘s quick snapshot beat Quick shortside to give New Jersey a 2-1 lead going into the first intermission.
As quickly as the puck dropped for the second period, the Rangers tied the game nearly as fast. At the 19 second mark of the middle frame, Mika Zibanejad rifled a shot on Markstrom, and although he got a piece of the puck, it landed in the Devils goal to knot the game at two goals each.
The Rangers’ second goal of the night was just their third shot of the game.
The Devils pushed back, however, and at the 11:09 mark of the second, Alexis Lafreniere was called for a minor holding penalty on Dawson Mercer.
On the ensuring Devils power play, Jack set up Connor Brown in the Rangers slot for a one-time chance, and New Jersey regained the lead on the man advantage.
Six minutes into the third period, Paul Cotter retrieved a loos puck in the neutral zone with no one between him and Quick. The Rangers goaltender made the initial save on Cotter’s breakaway, but Timo Meier deposited the rebound opportunity to double the Devils’ lead to 4-2.
The Rangers didn’t fold, however.
At the 9:40 mark of the third, Matthew Robertson from the left wall found Conor Sheary in the New Jersey slot, and his one-timer beat Markstrom to bring New York back within a goal, 4-3.
Yet, Jack Hughes did Jack Hughes things, regaining the Devils’ two-goal lead when he walked the Rangers blueline pressured by the New York defense, escaped, and rifled a slapshot past Quick to make it a 5-3 game 13:05 into the third.
Bratt widened the gap at the 3:36 mark of the third, beating Quick on the rush to make it a 6-3 game with two Rangers defenders pressuring.
Jack’s secondary assist on the Devils’ sixth goal was his third point of the night (1g, 2a).
Markstrom secured his 21st win of the season, making 14 saves on 17 shots.
