After a five-game absence, Jack Hughes’ return to the New Jersey Devils lineup did not necessarily go as planned, as they lost 5 to 3 to the New York Rangers on Saturday at the Prudential Center .
The good news is that this upper body injury doesn’t seem to have slowed him down. The Devils’ big star scored a bizarre goal midway through the first period, in addition to adding an assist. On his net, the puck found a way across the goal line in slow motion after passing through Igor Shesterkin.
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That being said, it was Artemi Panarin who stole the show. Indeed, the Russian scored two goals, just like his teammate Jimmy Vesey, and was elected the first star of the match. Ondrej Palat and Erik Haula are the two other New Jersey players to respond.
The Rangers will face the Dallas Stars on Monday. As for the Devils, they will travel to Detroit to cross swords with the Red Wings on Wednesday.
The famine is over for Gaudreau
After seven games without threading the needle, Johnny Gaudreau finally scored in the Columbus Blue Jackets’ 4-3 loss to the Washington Capitals.
Remember that the 30-year-old forward was punished by his head coach Pascal Vincent during his team’s defeat against the Arizona Coyotes on Thursday. The first city had not been used during the last 6 min 15 s of the match.
On Saturday, it was Gaudreau who opened the scoring, but his club fell back into trouble shortly after by allowing three unanswered goals in the second period. Moreover, Quebecer Hendrix Lapierre scored the winning goal. He finished his evening of work with three points, notably thanks to two assists.
Alexander Ovechkin, Aliaksei Protas and Sonny Milano were the other scorers for the Capitals.
This defeat is the Blue Jackets’ eighth in a row, and they have only one win in their last 13 outings.
The Avalanche takes on the Stars
Despite starting the match completely to their advantage, the Dallas Stars lost 6 to 3 against the Colorado Avalanche.
The Stars had a 3-0 lead after 22:12 of play, but that’s where everything fell apart for them. Miles Wood sounded the revolt in the middle of the second period for the Avalanche, before Ryan Johansen brought his team to within a single goal of the local favorites.
However, it was the four goals scored during the last engagement which allowed Jared Bednar’s players to pocket the two points of victory. Valeri Nichushkin, Mikko Rantanen, Andrew Cogliano and Ross Colton were the scorers in the third period.
Tyler Seguin, twice, and Joe Pavelski shook the ropes for Dallas.