New Jersey Devils star forward Jack Hughes torched the New York Rangers earlier this month by registering his fourth career hat trick to go along with an assist.
The Olympic hero will look for another strong performance against the Rangers on Wednesday night when the Devils cross the Hudson River to begin a five-game road trip.
Hughes was at it again on Monday, notching three assists in a 4-3 overtime victory over the Boston Bruins to become the fastest player in franchise history to reach 400 career points. Hughes, who has 402 points (158 goals, 244 assists) in 414 games, has 15 points (five goals, 10 assists) since scoring the gold medal-winning goal for the United States at the Olympics.
Paul Cotter capped a two-goal performance on Monday by scoring on a breakaway with 7 seconds remaining in overtime for the Devils, who have won six of their last eight games.
“We were talking as coaches … we were just going to start walking off the bench because that’s the level of confidence we have in Paul,” New Jersey coach Sheldon Keefe said, referring to Cotter’s breakaway goal. “My first thought was, ‘Well, we don’t have to wait for the shootout,’ so let him just do his thing. He’s at the top of the list of anyone who you want to have in that type of situation.”
Connor Brown collected a goal and an assist and Jesper Bratt also tallied on Monday.
“I think there’s a lot of encouraging signs about our group right now,” said Brown, who joined linemates Bratt and Hughes in recording six points (two goals, four assists) and nine shots on goal.
“The way we’re playing, the depth scoring, the fourth line chipping in. I think we weren’t really messing around in the second period … they had five guys at their blue line so we just kind of put it in, went to get it, and I think that kind of tilted the rink for us a little bit.”
Bratt recorded one goal and two assists in New Jersey’s 6-3 home victory over New York on March 7.
The Eastern Conference cellar-dwelling Rangers rebounded from that setback to win a season-high four in a row before dropping a 4-1 decision to the Los Angeles Kings on Monday.
Vincent Trocheck scored a power-play goal early in the third period, giving him 11 points (two goals, nine assists) in his last nine games. It also allowed New York to avoid being shut out for the 10th time this season.
The second period proved to be the undoing for the Rangers, who yielded two goals and were outshot 16-3 in the session.
“Some of the worst hockey, I think, of our season,” New York defenseman Adam Fox said of the second period.
The fans at Madison Square Garden let the tenants know it, booing the club off the ice.
“I think we could’ve done a better job just answering with a little bit of pushback to some of the adversity,” Rangers head coach Mike Sullivan said.
