Jack Hughes hat trick powers Devils past Rangers 6-3: takeaways
Forgive the New York Rangers if they never want to see Jack Hughes up close and personal again. Hughes continued his career-long mastery over the Rangers on Saturday afternoon, scoring three goals and adding an assist to lead the Devils past the Blueshirts 6-3.
Since Hughes entered the NHL as the No. 1 overall pick in the 2019 NHL Draft, he scored more goals against the Rangers than any other player in the League. With four points in this latest encounter, the Devils forward now has 32 points (19 goals, 13 assists) in 24 games against the Rangers.
Two of those goals came in the third period, when the Devils pulled away and scored three times to snap a 3-3 tie. Devils captain Nico Hischier scored the eventual game-winner, and Jesper Bratt and Dawson Mercer each scored once.
The Rangers (24-30-8) were out-shot 35-19 and saw their four-game point streak (2-0-2) since returning from the Olympic break end. Despite allowing five goals — the sixth was scored into an empty net — Jonathan Quick made a slew of Grade-A saves for the Rangers, who played much of this game as if defense was optional.
Interestingly, two of New York’s goals were score by defensemen — Will Borgen and Vladislav Gavrikov. Top-six forward Will Cuylle scored the other goal, his 16th of the season and third in the past two games. Vincent Trocheck contributed an assist, one day after the Rangers didn’t move the 32-year-old center ahead of the NHL Trade Deadline.
For two teams sitting at the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings, the Rangers and Devils played a spirited back-and-forth contest that was fun to watch in this matinee contest.
Bratt opened the scoring just 1:06 into the game, burying a Cody Glass feed off the rush, as the Rangers yet again allowed a goal in the opening minutes, something they’ve done far too often this season.
Four minutes later, the Devils had an identical opportunity, but this time Quick made a terrific save to deny Timo Meier’s right-wing blast.
The Rangers pulled even at 6:26, when Trocheck set up Borgen off the rush. Borgen wired his fifth goal, and second in three games, past Markstrom to tie things up 1-1.
They proceeded to take the lead at 8:36, when Gavrikov hammered a shot that again beat Markstrom glove side. It was Gavrikov’s career-high 12th goal, and extended his goal streak to three and point streak to four.
However, the Rangers were unable to escape the first period with the lead. Mercer neatly deflected a Luke Hughes shot past Quick for a power-play goal with 12.4 seconds remaining before intermission.
The Devils carried some momentum into the second period and out-shot the Rangers 14-5 in the middle frame. Quick turned in an excellent period, though he was beaten by Jack Hughes just as time ran out on New Jersey’s second power play. Hughes clapped a slap shot through a screen to make it 3-2.
But just 61 seconds later, Cuylle got a stick on Braden Schneider’s shot, and the puck deflected past Markstrom to even the score yet again, this time at 3-3.
Quick and Markstrom traded big-time saves in the third period, until the Devils regained the lead with their third power-play goal of the afternoon. This time it was Hischier hopping on a rebound in the slot, and, using Schneider as a screen, he wired his 21st goal past Quick at 8:05.
Hughes then iced it for the Devils, first scoring on a breakaway at 16:56, and then completing his fourth career hat trick into an empty net at 19:27.
Key takeaways after Rangers lose 6-3 to Devils
Not so special
The Rangers special teams left a lot to be desired in this one. Their penalty kill allowed three power-play goals for the first time this season. And New York’s own power play was 0-for-4, managing four shots on goal total, and surrendering three short-handed shots by New Jersey.
Granted, Gabe Perreault was absolutely robbed by Markstom on the doorstep 2:54 into the third period, when the game was still tied 3-3. But less than a minute later, the Devils forced Quick to make two sensational saves on their short-handed opportunities.
“A big part of the game is momentum and we didn’t get any juice from our special teams today,” coach Mike Sullivan said postgame.
To make matters worse, the Devils were 1-for-26 on the power play in their previous nine games before exploding for a perfect 3-for-3 against the Rangers.
No third-period magic
The Rangers scored four third-period goals in each of their past two games, but didn’t have that same late-game magic on Saturday. In fact, the Rangers managed only seven shots in the third period, three after Quick was pulled for an extra attacker in the final minutes.
They are now 7-7-1 when tied after two periods this season.
On Thursday, the Rangers pulled away from the Toronto Maple Leafs, scoring four times in the third period of a 6-2 win at Madison Square Garden. On Monday, the Rangers erased a 4-0 deficit by scoring four times in the third period, before losing to the Blue Jackets 5-4 in overtime.
Not this time, though. Instead, it was the Devils who pulled away and outscored the Rangers 3-0 in the final period.
Trocheck not going anywhere, for now
His name was all over the rumor mill for weeks. And Trocheck even was a healthy scratch against the Maple Leafs for roster management purposes, with a trade expected Friday before the League’s 3 p.m. ET deadline. But he wasn’t traded, and was back out there leading Rangers forwards with 22:52 TOI on Saturday.
Afterward, Trocheck didn’t reveal much about his feelings remaining with the Rangers, though he did express that he’s happy this time of uncertainty passed.
“I don’t know. I was just happy for it all to be over with,” he told reporters after the loss. “It’s a stressful waiting game whenever you’re in talks like that. So for me, it was just a rollercoaster of emotions. Now that it’s done with, for now, it’s nice.”
For now. That, for sure, sounds like a man who knows the next stressful period comes in the offseason, when trade talks heat up again, and likely ends up with him being traded.
Rivalry renewed
The Rangers and Devils met for the first time this season, in Game No. 62 for New York, and 63 for New Jersey. They’ll play twice more this month. Clearly, the NHL schedule maker envisioned the Rangers and Devils battling for playoff spots at this juncture of the season. That’s not the case, of course, but there was a little extra juice to this one.
The Hudson River rivalry heated up in the third period, when Juuso Parssinen hit Connor Brown high and late. Brown’s teammate Arseny Gritsyuk — not exactly a thug — jumped on Parssinen and punched the Rangers forward several times. Meanwhile, Vincent Iorio and Brenden Dillon sized each other up, though opted not to fight.
Parssinen received two minutes for interference, and Gritsyuk took a double minor for roughing. As we already know, the Rangers did nothing with that power play. But it remained testy out there. Mika Zibanejad Stapled Jonas Siegenthaler into the boards with a heavy — yet clean — hit. And with five minutes to go, Quick smacked Lenni Hameenaho in the face with his blocker after the Devils forward landed on the Rangers goalie in the crease.
Fun times. Rivalry renewed. These next two games at MSG should be fun.
