Jack Hughes fell into his Devils teammates and watched the hats trickle onto the ice around him.
After scoring two highlight-reel goals and sneaking a wrist shot past Capitals goalie Charlie Lindgren in the 5-1 win on Saturday, Hughes finally etched his first career hat trick in his 187th career game. He was ecstatic in the postgame dressing room, but couldn’t shake one intrusive thought:
Will the Devils – who already had a fan-debris incident on Wednesday – get fined for this?
“I thought it was unreal,” Hughes said. “I don’t know if there’s a fine or something. But it’s a rowdy fan base – I kind of love that”
The Devils won’t be fined – which is good news for them, considering the potential hat tricks looming for the star center. Hughes, 21, further proved his scoring abilities from all over the offensive zone on Saturday. His second goal, for example, was a low-percentage shot from below the left face-off dot that clanked off Lindgren’s mask before landing into the net. What was Hughes thinking before this attempt?
“Just (hit) the net, baby!” Hughes said. “That’s a shot I’ve worked on a lot. It’s a lucky shot. You got to hit him in the head. It’s got to go in at the right angle, so it’s a lucky shot for sure, but I definitely wasn’t shooting for the shot on goal, that’s for sure.”
Hughes’ electric performance earned him 25 points (11 goals and 14 assists) through 22 games played this season – which is tied with Jesper Bratt for most on the team and ranks 14th in the NHL. Advanced metrics-wise, Hughes has generated 95 scoring chances, 31 high-danger chances and ranks 15th in Corsi for (148).
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More importantly for Hughes, his team is finally playing well. Despite a 27-46-9 record in 2021-22, the Devils are now tied with the Boston Bruins for most points in the NHL after about ¼ of the season. Hughes said New Jersey’s signature speedy, run-and-gun play style is becoming their “brand.”
“When you’re winning, obviously it’s a lot better, but we like our brand of hockey,” Hughes said. “I think we’re hard to play against and we like our game away from the puck, too, so I think we’re in a good spot right now.”
The brain behind the Devils’ 2022-23 boom? Coach Lindy Ruff – whom Hughes said the team “failed” last year. Ruff, now a member of the six-man 800 career win club after Saturday, is the early favorite for the Jack Adams Award thanks to his results and development of players like Hughes, Bratt and captain Nico Hischier.
As successful as this past month has been for Ruff, he continues to credit players like Hughes for their role in the Devils’ improvement.
“We took advantage a couple times and then gambled, got odd-numbered rushes,” Ruff said. “I thought Jack had a heck of a night. Took advantage of a couple of great opportunities he got.”
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Ryan Novozinsky may be reached at rnovozinsky@njadvancemedia.com. You can follow him on Twitter @ryannovo62.
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