Hughes Brothers Bookend Devils Win with Goals in Toronto | GAME STORY

TORONTO, ON - Luke Hughes opened the scoring for New Jersey in Toronto and Jack Hughes finished the scoring for New Jersey in Toronto, to bookend a 6-3 Devils victory against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Both Hughes brothers grew up in the area and were playing together for the first time in the arena where they spent hours watching hockey.

Luke opened the scoring for New Jersey, tying the game at one at 4:25 of the first period. The Devils conceded the first goal to the Leafs Tyler Bertuzzi just 1:04 into the game, but kept plugging away.

“We knew that we could play a lot better," Jesper Bratt said, "Obviously we went in with the lead but we knew we had to step up our game. We also knew that that was their push that they had. That was for us to turn that around. Obviously we have been a team that if its been down games early we know that it’s time for us to get up and get momentum in the game and we got a good start to that.”

The Leafs outshot New Jersey 25-8 in the opening period, but it was the Devils who made their eight shots count for more. Nico Hischier added to Hughes' tally at 17:56 of the first period to lead his team into the second period with a 2-1 lead. Replicating their offensive success, but dialing in their defensive play, the Devils and Leafs traded two goals a piece in the second period. Timo Meier scored his 24th of the season and Max Willman scored his second to give New Jersey at 4-3 lead heading into the third.

"I think obviously, it's not the way we wanted to start the second period, but we know from a lot of experience the game is 60 minutes," Hischier said of the Leafs scoring two early goals in the second, "After goals against and goals for, you've got to be sharp, have the sharp mind-set and keep playing."

Willman's goal would stand the test of time as the game-winner, but Jack Hughes would add an insurance goal with 3:13 to play to bring the score to 5-3 for New Jersey and added a second one with under a minute to play for the 6-3 final score.

Jake Allen had himself a very busy night, facing 45 shots by the high-octane Leafs.

"Jake played phenomenal in the first," interim head coach Travis Green said, "I felt like, in the first, the speed and the skill of their team took us a little while to catch up to it. I thought once we got settled into the game after the first I thought we were good in all areas."

William Nylander and Auston Matthews also scored for Toronto. Nylander scored his 40th goal while Matthews scored his 59th.

Here are some observations from the game:

• Timo Meier's 13 goals in the month of March leads the NHL. Meier is up to 24 goals this season, in a three-way tie with Nico Hischier and Jack Hughes for the team lead, but Hughes would later claim sole possession of first in goals scoring two in the final six minutes of the game to bring his season total up to 26 goals. 

• Jesper Bratt has his 71 points, marking the third time in three years that Bratt has reached over 70 points in a season. There’s a very good chance, with nine games remaining this season, he will put up the best numbers of his career. His career high is 73 points, which was his total in the last two NHL seasons.

Bratt assisted on Luke Hughes’ opening goal of the game, credited with the primary assist – his 47^th of the season, which ties a career-high in assists, set during the 2021-22 NHL season. He later set a new career-high with his 48^th helper, dishing the puck to captain Nico Hischier for Nico’s 24^th goal of the season and the 2-1 lead on the Leafs.

• Jack Hughes has also hit the 70 point thresh hold, his two-goal night bringing him up to 71 points. 

• Luke Hughes grew up in the Greater Toronto Area and played many of his formative hockey years here in Ontario. He grew up coming to Maple Leafs games and Tuesday night was his first game in the NHL playing in Toronto.

Before the game, Luke spoke about being excited to play in this building, saying it would be ‘cool’. And what made it cooler, perhaps, is that in his first game in Toronto, with his and the team’s first shot of the game, scoring his first goal in 30 games to tie the game at one.

• There are games where goalies may only see 17-20 shots through an entire 60 minutes, but that certainly wasn’t the case for Jake Allen in Toronto. He faced 26 shots in the first period alone, turning away all but one early in the game, to help the Devils build a 2-1 lead heading into the second period.

“A lot," Hischier said of the impact Allen has had. "He gives us the saves we need, gives us the momentum back in games. If you have a solid goalie in the net, that makes your work easier too.”

Allen was outstanding, making acrobatic saves when needed. But perhaps one of his most important saves of the game came late in the second period when he made a glove save in close on Pontus Holmberg who was fed the puck from behind Allen’s net.

That save kept the game tied at three and with the fourth line out for the next shift, Willman capitalized for his second goal of the season and the 4-3 Devils goal, giving the Devils their second lead of the game.

• The Devils played a much more sound second period defensively. Giving up 25 shots in a period, like they did in the first, would not be sustainable to keep the lead they had built. Buckling down was necessary, which they did, giving up 10 shots in the second.

• Curtis Lazar returned to the Devils lineup after sitting out the last game with a lower-body injury.