2 — 3
The second period finally gave the game a pulse
The first period passed without a goal, which made the opening breakthrough feel larger when it arrived. At 11:55 of the second, Nico Hischier put New Jersey ahead 1-0 with a wrist shot, with Timo Meier and Luke Evangelista collecting the assists. After a quiet opening 31 minutes and 55 seconds, the Devils had finally forced the scoreboard to move.
The Rangers did not let that lead stand for long. Anton Blidh answered at 16:05 of the second with a wrist shot of his own, set up by Liam Greentree and Dennis Cholowski. That equalizer changed the texture of the night. What had been a patient, scoreless game suddenly became one in which each clean finish carried real weight.
New Jersey’s response before intermission may have been the most important sequence before the winner. With only 50 seconds left in the second period, Meier scored on a wrap-around at 19:10, unassisted, to restore the Devils’ lead at 2-1. Instead of heading to the third period level, New York had to spend another intermission preparing to chase again. In a one-goal game, that shift mattered.
Drew Fortescue pulled it even, but Hughes had the last word
The Rangers showed they had another answer. At 7:07 of the third, Drew Fortescue tied the game 2-2 on a wrist shot, with Juuso Parssinen and Brody Lamb providing the assists. It was New York’s second equalizer of the night, and it reset everything with nearly half a period still to play.
That level score lasted 10 minutes and 41 seconds. Then Hughes delivered the deciding play at 17:48 of the third, finishing a wrist shot with Jesper Bratt and Brett Pesce on the assists. In a game defined by replies, New Jersey’s final response was the one New York could not match.
The goaltending lines help frame the rest. The Rangers finished with 28 saves, while the Devils had 16, which means New Jersey generated 31 shots to New York’s 18. That does not tell the full story of how dangerous either side was, but it does underline one clear fact: the Devils had more opportunities to find a third goal, and eventually they did.
Our take: New Jersey made its extra chances count
Our take: this was not a runaway, but it was a game in which the Devils’ better offensive volume gave them a little more room to solve the problem late. New Jersey got goals from Hischier, Meier and Hughes, and Meier had a hand in the first two Devils tallies with an assist and a goal. That spread matters. So does the timing. The Devils scored once to open the game, once to retake the lead before the second intermission, and once to break the final tie in the last three minutes.
From the Rangers’ side, there is a respectable amount to like in the way they kept coming back. Blidh and Fortescue each erased a deficit, and New York got four assists spread across both goals. But the Rangers also finished with 18 shots, and that left them working with a slimmer margin than New Jersey all night. The sharper correction would be turning an equalizer into a steadier stretch afterward. After Blidh made it 1-1 at 16:05 of the second, the Rangers conceded again at 19:10 before they could carry that momentum into the break.
For the Devils, the improvement point sits at the other end of the same sequence. They won, but both of their first two leads disappeared. When a team scores first and then regains the lead before intermission, it would prefer not to need a late rescue. Still, that is a note for later. On this night, the defining truth is simpler: the Devils created more, got key contributions from their marquee finishers, and trusted Hughes to settle a game that had been tied twice. He did exactly that.
Scoring moments
- 2nd · 11:55
Nico Hischier Goal (1) Wrist Shot, assists: Timo Meier (1), Luke Evangelista (1)
- 2nd · 16:05
Anton Blidh Goal (1) Wrist Shot, assists: Liam Greentree (1), Dennis Cholowski (1)
- 2nd · 19:10
Timo Meier Goal (1) Wrap-around, assists: none
- 3rd · 7:07
Drew Fortescue Goal (1) Wrist Shot, assists: Juuso Parssinen (1), Brody Lamb (1)
- 3rd · 17:48
Jack Hughes Goal (1) Wrist Shot, assists: Jesper Bratt (1), Brett Pesce (1)