Devils Rout Rangers 7-1 as Luke Hughes Scores Twice

The New Jersey Devils routed the New York Rangers 7-1 at Prudential Center on Thursday night, with defenseman Luke Hughes scoring twice and goaltender Nico Daws stopping 18 of 19 shots as New Jersey pulled away from its Metropolitan Division rival in a lopsided result confirmed by the league's official game center.

New Jersey opened the scoring late in the first period when Evan Rodrigues beat Rangers starter Dylan Garand with a wrist shot 30 seconds before intermission, then buried the game in a four-goal second period. Hughes started the avalanche 18 seconds into the frame on a snap shot, Nico Hischier and Arseni Gritsyuk added goals just over four minutes apart, and Hughes struck again midway through the period for his second of the night. Garand was pulled after allowing six goals on 13 shots and replaced by Simon Martin, who stopped 15 of 18 the rest of the way. Pavel Dorofeyev's third-period tip-in, set up by Adam Fox and Alexis Lafreniere, was the only blemish on Daws's night, and New Jersey tacked on two more in the final period from Stefan Noesen and Cody Glass to complete the rout, as ESPN's box score shows.

Hughes, who finished with two goals on three shots, was named the game's first star. Rodrigues, with a goal and an assist, took the second star, and Daws earned the third for his .947 save percentage against a Rangers lineup that had scored at a healthy rate through its first eight games. New Jersey was outshot 31-19 on the night, a reminder that the scoreline reflected opportunism and a poor goaltending night for New York more than a complete territorial beating. Six different Devils found the scoresheet, with Jack Hughes, Dougie Hamilton, Timo Meier, Dawson Mercer and Brett Pesce each adding an assist.

The loss dropped the Rangers to 6-3 on the season, though they remain in playoff position in the Metropolitan Division under coach Mike Sullivan. New Jersey improved to 4-3 under Sheldon Keefe, climbing back toward .500 after an uneven opening stretch that had included lopsided losses to the Islanders and Utah earlier this month. Thursday's performance was the Devils' most lopsided scoring margin of the young season. Both teams are back in action Saturday, with the Devils traveling to face the Washington Capitals and the Rangers visiting the Columbus Blue Jackets, games that will offer a quicker read on the current Metropolitan Division standings and on whether Thursday's result reflected a genuine shift in form or one bad night for a Rangers team that had won six of its first eight games.

For a Devils roster built around a young core, the breadth of the scoring mattered as much as the final margin. Garand's early exit leaves New York with a goaltending question to sort out before his next start, having allowed six goals on only 13 shots faced. Daws's near-flawless outing in net, by contrast, gives New Jersey a result to build on as it tries to establish itself in a crowded Metropolitan race that includes Washington, Carolina and the Rangers themselves. Captain Nico Hischier, who scored New Jersey's third goal of the night, and Jack Hughes, who set up Gritsyuk's goal moments later, were central to the Devils' decisive second-period surge, in which New Jersey turned a one-goal lead into a 4-0 cushion inside the period's first five minutes, well before Luke Hughes added his second of the night.