Luke Hughes nets two as New Jersey Devils crush New York Rangers 7-1 in Newark

By Vancouver Television Sports Desk

Luke Hughes recorded two goals in his first multi-goal game of the season as the New Jersey Devils defeated the New York Rangers 7-1 at Prudential Center in Newark on Thursday. The win moved the Devils to a 4-3-0 record, and the team has won two straight.

Evan Rodrigues contributed a goal and an assist for New Jersey, while Timo Meier, Brett Pesce, Dawson Mercer, Dougie Hamilton and Amadeus Lombardi each registered two assists. Nico Daws made 18 saves to earn his first win of the season for the Devils, whose victory was the 300th in the NHL for head coach Sheldon Keefe.

For New Jersey’s goaltending matchup, New York started with Pavel Dorofeyev scoring and Dylan Garand making nine saves on 13 shots. Garand was replaced by Spencer Martin at 4:39 of the second period, and Martin stopped 15 shots as the Rangers went without a comeback.

The Rangers entered the game leading the NHL with a plus-13 goal differential, but the Devils built the lead early. Rodrigues scored the game’s first goal at 19:30 of the first period, stealing a cross-ice pass by Rangers captain J.T. Miller near the top of the right face-off circle before firing a wrist shot into the net.

Hughes then increased the Devils’ advantage early in the second period, scoring at 18 seconds. The goal came on a wrist shot from the top of the left face-off circle that deflected off defenseman Adam Fox in the slot and beat Garand.

Nico Hischier followed at 4:08 of the second period, jamming a puck into the net from the left post to make it 3-0. Arseny Gritsyuk scored 31 seconds later on a wrist shot from the right face-off circle to extend the lead to 4-0 at 4:39.

Hughes made it 5-0 at 16:34 with another wrist shot, this time from outside the right post. Stefan Noesen then scored at 7:01 of the third period to push the margin to 6-0, turning it into a two-goal swing over the opening five minutes of the final frame.

New York finally got on the board at 8:02 of the third period when Dorofeyev scored a power-play goal to make it 6-1. Cody Glass added a short-handed goal for the Devils at 14:54 to complete the 7-1 final score.

The game also included notable context in the Rangers’ lineup. Garand made his third straight start after Igor Shesterkin sustained a season-ending lower-body injury on Oct. 9, and the Devils’ 300th win under Keefe marked a milestone for the franchise’s head coach in the NHL.

With Hughes’ two goals and the Devils controlling both pace and scoring chances throughout, New Jersey turned an early lead into a decisive result against a Rangers team that had entered the matchup among the league’s best by goal differential. The victory sets up further division-week momentum for the Devils as they look to continue their stretch of consecutive wins.