Jack Hughes Scores OT Winner on Long Island | GAME STORY

ELMONT, NY - Scoring the dirty goals, in front of the net, in the blue paint and right at the goal line has become Stefan Noesen's bread and butter.

With 48 seconds left on the clock and Jacob Markstrom on the bench for the extra attacker, Noesen created the play at the goal line that sent the puck off an Islander and into the net past Ilya Sorokin to tie the game at three and send the game on Long Island to overtime.

"Those are the moments you play hockey for,” Devils captain Nico Hischier said. “I think it’s an emotional, tight game; I think we played a well enough game to win that game, and getting rewarded for it makes it that much better.”

And then, like clockwork, Jack Hughes and his stardom took over once again. He bookends the Devils' 4-3 overtime win, scoring the opening Devils goal and the overtime winner to secure the two points and the first three-game win streak of the season.

It wasn't all perfect; the Devils conceded two goals in less than two minutes midway through the third as the Islanders built a 3-1 lead. But the resiliency and trust of the system in place allowed New Jersey to carry the game past the finish line.

“It was a little punch in the face when we got scored on and then scored on again, 3-1, especially when you knew you were playing a good game," Hischier added. "And we were cheating there a little bit, that’s why we got scored (on) on the second goal. But we went right back at it and (Mercer) gave us life with his tally and after that, we knew it can go fast in hockey and to stick with it.”

At 4:29 of the third period, the Devils were down 3-1 to the Islanders. By the time they skated off the ice 2:35 into overtime, the tables had abruptly and most positively turned.

"It means we’re growing," Noesen said. "To me, that’s all that that really means. We’re okay being down a goal or two as long as we stick with the process."

Dougie Hamilton had a three-point night with three assists, including the outlet pass to Hughes in overtime, while Dawson Mercer scored New Jersey's second goal to make way for Noesen's tying tally.

Simon Holmstrom, Dennis Cholowski and Brock Nelson scored for the Islanders in regulation.

Here are some observations from the game:

• Ilya Sorokin was seemingly seeing and stopping everything by the Devils and it looked like, in order to at least score a single goal, the Devils would require a most perfect of shots. Well, that's something that Jack Hughes can do with ease. Hughes opened the scoring for New Jersey with a power play goal from the top of the left circle, ripping a wrist shot, high glove side on a screened Ilya Sorokin.

The goal was Hughes' sixth of the season, assisted by Dougie Hamilton and Jesper Bratt.

• One of the game's most exciting plays came toward the end of the second period when Grant Hutton was stripped of the blue at the blueline by Jack Hughes. Hughes, uncontested, had enough room to go one-on-one with Sorokin. The Islanders netminder required a full splits save, hugging the post with his skate to make the improbable save.

It was one of those plays where both players, on both sides of the puck, made incredible plays.

"Jack is a big part of our group," When he gets going, when he’s playing well, it’s hard to defend him and you can see that out there."

"He’s like he’s in a groove," head coach Sheldon Keefe said of his star player, who has three points in back-to-back games. "He’s just confident making plays with the puck. But to me the biggest thing that I’ve seen is just the number of puck battles that he’s winning. He’s getting the puck back for us a great deal; defensively, he’s been very solid, and he’s been in a groove. He’s an elite player, and he’s in a groove."

Watch the highlight reel move and save below!

• Noesen is up to 14 points in 17 games with seven goals and seven assists, including his 6-on-5 goal on Saturday night. Noesen has become a key member of the Devils during his second stint with the club averagine 14:19 time on ice and has two game-winning goals. He had three all of last season with the Hurricanes.

"Huge on special teams, power play, 6-on-5 like you saw tonight, even helping us on the penalty kill, special teams he’s been excellent," Keefe praised the forward. "He knows exactly what his job is when he’s out there in terms of retrieving pucks, being the net-front presence, being the goal-line presence and being an outlet when things get jammed up for Jack. He just works. He talks a lot, he’s been good both on and off the ice for us.”

Noesen had a team-high seven shots on net against the Islanders.

• After six points in his past two games, Jack Hughes is sitting on career point 299 with an opportunity to reach the 300 mark when he plays his 324th NHL game tomorrow against the San Jose Sharks.

• Paul Cotter was deployed not only on his regular line with Erik Haula and Stefan Noesen, but the speedy, hard-working forward also took semi-regular shifts on the fourth line with Justin Dowling and Tomas Tatar. Since his debut with the Devils, Cotter has been a versatile forward, capable of handling a multitude of on-ice personas, whether he's being asked to play with Hughes on the first line or grind it out on the third or fourth line. It's what has made Cotter such a valuable asset to the lineup.

• During the second intermission, Islanders forward Matt Martin was interviewed on the big screen and asked about playing against Jack Hughes. Martin shared that it feels like Hughes creates and gets a breakaway on every single shift and praised his all-around talent before lauding his own goaltender, Sorokin, for constantly going head-to-head with the Devils star forward.

• Nick DeSimone, called up to New Jersey on Friday, took warmups but did not dress for the game. The Devils have been able to roll the same lineup since the game against the Edmonton Oilers last week. In that time, New Jersey has gone 3-0-0.