Jack Hughes has 2 goals and 2 assists as Devils top Islanders 5-4 in OT
NEW YORK (AP) — Jack Hughes got his second goal of the game at 2:19 of overtime and added two assists to give the New Jersey Devils a 5-4 win over the New York Islanders on Friday night.
Dougie Hamilton, Tyler Toffoli and Luke Hughes also scored and New Jersey snapped a two-game skid. Jesper Bratt had three assists, Timo Meier had two and Akira Schmid stopped 27 shots for his first win of the season.
“I thought that really looked like our club,” Devils coach Lindy Ruff said after earning his 100th win with New Jersey. “We created a lot of turnovers, inside shots, and a lot of good opportunities. Our play around the puck was a lot stronger than it has been the first few games.”
Brock Nelson and Bo Horvat each scored twice, and Kyle Palmieri had three assists as the Islanders snapped a season-opening two-game win streak. Ilya Sorokin finished with 33 saves.
In the extra period, Hughes circled with the puck in the offensive zone, cut to the middle and fired a shot around Islanders defenseman Ryan Pulock and past Sorokin on the glove side.
“That play really started 25 seconds before,” Hughes said of his overtime goal. “(Meier, Dawson Mercer and John Marino) did a really good job of controlling the puck and they didn’t let the Islanders cross the red line so they couldn’t change. They had tired guys with bad gaps and I came on the ice with fresh legs, saw his feet turn and took the shot.”
Horvat tied the score at 4-4 in the final minutes of the third period. The 28-year-old center crashed the net and craftily buried a loose puck with 1:11 remaining.
“It’s a funny one because we’re happy with the point in the sense that we showed resilience and coming back,” Islanders coach Lane Lambert said. “Clearly, giving up those goals, we feel like we may have given something away.”
Jack Hughes had given the Devils a 4-3 lead at 4:30 of the third with New Jersey's fourth power-play goal of the night. Ondrej Palat delivered a perfect pass through the crease to set up Hughes on the far post for a back-door tap-in.
The Devils and Islanders each scored twice in an action-packed six-minute stretch in the early stages of the second period.
Toffoli opened the second with a power-play goal at 21 seconds to give the Devils a 2-1 advantage.
Nelson tied it 2-2 with his second of the game when he slid a puck through Schmid's legs just 1:16 later.
The Devils went back ahead when Luke Hughes got his first of the season with a slap shot into the top corner as Devils captain Nico Hischier screened Sorokin.
“It’s hard coming in being a rookie defenseman especially on a really good team,” Jack Hughes said of his brother Luke. “It’s not like he is just walking in and given the minutes, he’s got to earn it. He’s done a really good job. From game four to 40 to 80 he will be a much different player, too.”
Horvat scored the final goal of a back-and-forth second period to tie it 3-3. Islanders defenseman Noah Dobson faked a slap shot and set up Horvat for a sharp-angled one-timer at 6:10.
Nelson opened the scoring with 7:25 left in the first period.
Hamilton responded with 1 minute to go with a one-timer from the high slot after Meier made a nifty backhand pass to find the defenseman all alone in the slot. Schmid also had an assist on the play for his first NHL point.
“We got so many skilled players on the ice that you can kind of put anyone out there,” Luke Hughes said of the power play that has produced a league-leading nine goals and is second at 43%. “Dougie (Hamilton) has that big shot and kind of kicked us off. It’s just us making skilled plays.”
Hischier did not return for the third period after he sustained an upper-body injury and is considered day-to-day.
STRONG START
Jack Hughes and Bratt both are off to sizzling starts to the season. Hughes now has 10 points (four goals, six assists) for the NHL lead, and Bratt is tied for second with eight (three goals, five assists).
UP NEXT
Devils: Host Montreal on Tuesday night.
Islanders: At Buffalo on Saturday night.
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AP NHL: https://www.apnews.com/hub/NHL
