Family “Reunion” Goes Devils’ Way By Matt Blittner, The New York Extra/TheNYExtra.com
Family…sometimes you get along great. Other times, you can’t stand each other. But you always love one another.
Monday night at Prudential Center, the Devils and Canucks played a family affair as Jack Hughes (New Jersey) and Quinn Hughes (Vancouver) led their respective teams into battle. On this night it was younger sibling Jack who once again got one over on his older brother Quinn as New Jersey won the game 7-2.
Prior to the game both Hughes boys were front and center with each being asked what it’s like to face-off with the other for the third time in their NHL careers. Prior to Monday night, Jack held a 2-0 advantage over Quinn, but they hadn’t met in a regular-season game since 2019. (That ledger is now 3-0 in Jack’s favor).
“I think I’m 0-3 against him and 0-2 against in the NHL, so it’s kind of a problem,” said Quinn Hughes before the game. “Especially tonight. We need points so bad right now, so it’s not as much about changing the narrative but more we need to keep climbing the ladder.” (Quotes courtesy of NHL.com’s Mike Morreale.)
“We got some of those side bets going on,” continued Quinn. “I think we wanted to get a little painting for the house (in Michigan), so I think the loser is going to pay for it.” (Again, quote credit to Mike Morreale). After New Jersey’s 7-2 win it’s safe to say Quinn is paying for the painting.
Side bets aside, the brothers clearly wanted to one-up each other one the ice. And don’t forget the youngest of the Hughes brothers – Luke Hughes, currently playing for University of Michigan and was drafted by the Devils last year – will be getting involved in a year or two. Once that happens, watch out. It’ll be a sibling rivalry every day in New Jersey.
As for the game…
1) The opening five-minutes didn’t feature much, although the crowd did get a brief Hughes vs. Hughes matchup. Jack carried the puck alone into Vancouver’s zone. But before he could get much beyond the blue line Quinn used his stick to poke the puck away and end New Jersey’s threat.
2) Jack Hughes got his revenge – sort of – 9:15 into the first period. Hughes led a two-on-one charge up the ice – not against Quinn – and rifled the puck past Jaroslav Halak for the 1-0 Devils lead.
3) Jack was at it again late in the first period as he skated between Vancouver’s players before dishing the puck to Dawson Mercer. Mercer quickly got the puck to Yegor Sharangovich below the hash marks and before Jaroslav Halak could blink the puck was in the back of his net. 2-0 Devils 15:24 into the game.
4) Late in the first, Luke Schenn was sent off for interfering with Nathan Bastian and on the ensuing power-play Jesper Bratt made a cross-seam pass to Dawson Mercer. Mercer took aim and didn’t miss, extending New Jersey’s lead to 3-0 at the 17:44 mark of the opening period.
5) Vancouver didn’t waste any time getting back in the game as Vasily Podkolzin went top-shelf on Nico Daws 1:36 into the second period. That cut New Jersey’s lead to 3-1.
6) The Devils didn’t take too kindly to Podkolzin’s goal, responding quickly and repeatedly. First came Jesper Boqvist blowing past Quinn Hughes inside Vancouver’s blue line. Boqvist took the puck from the elder Hughes and put the puck past Halak for the 4-1 Devils lead 3:08 into the middle period.
Next – 1:59 after Boqvist’s goal – came a Ryan Graves blast from the point to extend the Devils’ lead to 5-1. And that was followed up 1:12 later by a blast from Jesper Bratt to give New Jersey a touchdown and a 6-1 lead.
7) Bratt’s blast sent an enraged Halak to the bench as Vancouver’s Head Coach Bruce Budreau yanked his netminder and put Thatcher Demko in net. This move briefly sparked the Canucks as Tanner Pearson scored 1:55 after the goalie change to bring the visitors within 6-2. Nico Daws clearly wanted Pearson’s goal back as the puck leaked through his five-hole.
8) A Nico Hischier hooking penalty against Brock Boeser at 15:55 of the second period looked like it might get the Canucks to the halfway point of a comeback but Nico Daws held firm and protected New Jersey’s 6-2 lead.
9) A hooking penalty committed by Matthew Highmore with 1:09 left in the middle period put New Jersey on its second power-play of the evening. (The power-play carried into the third period for 51-seconds.)
10) New Jersey didn’t take advantage of its 51-seconds of power-play time at the start of the third period and the game settled down, somewhat, after the craziness of the second period.
“We played a pretty solid third period,” said Devils Head Coach Lindy Ruff.
11) The Devils made sure to tack on the extra point with 8:18 left in the game. Jesper Boqvist blew past Quinn Hughes along the near wall and made a cross-ice pass to Dougie Hamilton, who shot the puck past Demko for the 7-2 New Jersey lead.
That was all for the Devils and Canucks as New Jersey bested Vancouver for the 12th consecutive time.
“It makes it a lot easier when we score that many goals,” said winning goaltender Nico Daws.
GAME NOTES
New Jersey’s power-play went 1-for-2 on the night. Meanwhile the Devils went 1-for-1 on the penalty-kill…Nico Hischier led all Devils forwards in ice time at 17:44…Damon Severson led all New Jersey defensemen in ice time at 21:39…The Devils celebrated Black History Month throughout the night, including wearing special jerseys for their pre-game warmup…Yegor Sharangovich’s first period goal extended his points streak to seven-games…Jack Hughes’ two-points gave him four-straight games with multiple points…Seven different Devils recorded multi-point performances (Hughes, Jesper Bratt, Jesper Boqvist, Ryan Graves, Dawson Mercer, Yegor Sharangovich and Nico Hischier).