After a five-game absence, Jack Hughes’ return to the New Jersey Devils’ lineup didn’t necessarily go as planned, as they lost 5-3 to the New York Rangers on Saturday at the Prudential Center.
The good news is that this upper body injury doesn’t appear to have slowed him down. The Devils’ big star scored a bizarre goal midway through the first period and also provided an assist. The puck found its way across the goal line in slow motion in his net after passing Igor Shesterkin.
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Other than that, it was Artemi Panarin who stole the show. In fact, the Russian, like his teammate Jimmy Vesey, scored two goals and was voted the first star of the game. Ondrej Palat and Erik Haula are the other two New Jersey players responding.
The Rangers face the Dallas Stars on Monday. The Devils travel to Detroit on Wednesday to take on the Red Wings.
For Gaudreau, the famine is over
After seven games without a catch, Johnny Gaudreau finally scored in the Columbus Blue Jackets’ 4-3 loss to the Washington Capitals.
Recall that the 30-year-old forward was punished by his head coach Pascal Vincent during his team’s loss to the Arizona Coyotes on Thursday. The first city was not used for the final 6 minutes and 15 seconds of the game.
On Saturday it was Gaudreau who opened the scoring, but his club was in trouble again soon after when he conceded three goals in the second period. In addition, Quebecer Hendrix Lapierre scored the winning goal. He finished his evening with three points, thanks in particular to two assists.
Alexander Ovechkin, Aliaksei Protas and Sonny Milano were the Capitals’ other scorers.
This is the Blue Jackets’ eighth straight loss and they have only one win in their last 13 games.
The Avalanche takes on the stars
Although the Dallas Stars started the game completely in their advantage, they lost 6 to 3 to the Colorado Avalanche.
The Stars had a 3-0 lead after 22:12 minutes of play, but then everything fell apart for them. Miles Wood sparked the Avalanche’s rebellion midway through the second period before Ryan Johansen brought his team within a single goal of the local favorites.
However, it was the four goals scored in the last game that allowed Jared Bednar’s players to pick up the two winning points. Valeri Nichushkin, Mikko Rantanen, Andrew Cogliano and Ross Colton were the scorers in the third period.
Tyler Seguin, twice, and Joe Pavelski scored for Dallas.