Last night the New Jersey Devils (52-22-8) won in comeback fashion to take down the Washington Capitals 5-4 in overtime. The Devils finished just short of the division title with Carolina Hurricanes taking down the Florida Panthers 6-4 on the road.
With these results, the Devils will officially match up against their bitter rivals, the New York Rangers, in the first round of the playoffs.
Recap
Period One
The Devils came out looking a bit sloppy and it resulted in a multitude of early goals. A Joe Snively snipe far side put the Capitals up 1-0, and a pretty passing play led to a Rasmus Sandin goal about 90-seconds later.
Past the 10 minute mark, Hughes put the puck right on the stick of Craig Smith who roofed the biscuit to make it a 3-0 game.
With under three to go in the first, a couple nice passes from Luke Hughes and Yegor Sharangovich set up Erik Haula for a massive shot which made it 3-1. Luke Hughes picked up his first point in the NHL on the tally.
Period Two
The second period was dominated by Capitals, but it ended with the Devils still down by two. Early on, Tom Wilson got a few too many wacks at the puck. The third went past Mackenzie Blackwood to make it 4-1. That would be the end of his night as Akira Schmid would come in for the remainder of the game.
With under 90 seconds to play in the second period, Miles Wood tipped home a Tatar shot on the power play to make it a two goal game once again.
Period Three
The Devils controlled play for a majority of the third and it paid off. Just three minutes in, Haula scored again off a partial break and a delayed penalty, with the puck squeaking by netminder Darcy Kuemper. Then, with under eight minutes to play, Damon Severson set up Dougie Hamilton for a massive one-timer which evened the game in the third. That would be all the scoring in regulation and the two teams would head to overtime tied at four.
Overtime
The Devils were outplayed for the first half of overtime with Akira Schmid making multiple massive saves in tight. In the waning moments of the extra frame, head coach Lindy Ruff put out the Hughes brothers and Nico Hischier. It worked.
Luke Hughes went end to end undressing everyone on Washington for a beautiful first NHL goal as he wrapped in the rebound. The Devils finish their season with a win and a Luke Hughes beauty to cap it off.
Game Notes
Historic Night
The Devils broke a few records last night, setting the franchise record for most wins and points in a single season and league record for biggest turnaround. The team collected their 52nd win and 112th points of the season which are both team records. The Devils’ 112th point was also officially 49 more than the squad picked up in 2021-22. The difference is the largest in NHL history.
Luke Hughes
It didn’t take long for Luke Hughes to make an impact at the NHL level, impressing in his second NHL game. Luke was second on the team to only Dougie Hamilton in time on ice, recording 21:13.
He was also second on the team in corsi-for percentage (CF%) at 75.76 and seventh on the team in expected goals percentage (xG%) at 73.18. Oh yeah, he also scored his first NHL goal as the overtime winner.
Next Up
The New Jersey Devils will now take on the New York Rangers in Game One of the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. The game will either be Monday or Tuesday.