Stars Respond in Critical Game 3 Victory | COLUMN

The Devils needed more from their stars.

Through the opening two games of their Second Round series against Carolina captain Nico Hischier, Jack Hughes, Timo Meier, Jesper Bratt, Dawson Mercer and Ondrej Palat were all held off the stat sheet.

If the Devils were to avoid the existential threat of a 3-0 series deficit, the team needed its best players to be its best players in Sunday's critical Game 3 at Prudential Center. And they knew it.

"We need a little more offense. It starts with me as well," Hischier said in the aftermath of the Game 2 loss. "I'm mostly disappointed with myself, I need to help the team offensively."

In the most crucial game of the season - so far - it was the Devils' stars that shined brightest, and to the tune of a wild 8-4 victory.

Hughes' dental situation may be "brutal," but his play on the ice was anything but. The preternatural superstar, who lost one of his front teeth in Game 1 due to an unpenalized high stick, led the charge with two goals and two assists for a four-point game.

"They took it to us when they were at home for two games, so we wanted to come home and match that same energy," Hughes said.

Hischier and Meier delivered their first goals of the playoffs respectively. Meier opened the game's scoring six minutes into the contest while Hischier posted two points (1g-1a).

"I had a lot of chances in the series before," Hischier said. "It definitely feels good to get the one. At the end, I'll take the W and not who scores goals."

For Meier, it wasn't just his first goal of the playoffs, but also his first point in the current postseason. Although Meier, who is still wearing a full-face shield to protect a broken nose from a Jacob Trouba hit in Round One, has contributed in many other ways, including his physicality and wall battles.

"If you're scoring or not you try to make a difference every shift," Meier said. "It's playoff time. Every play matters. If you aren't scoring goals, you have to do other things. Those things will lead to goals, and the biggest thing is wins. That's what we want."

"You see him out there with a broken nose, cage, just playing hard, still finishing his hits," Hischier said. "He's a playoff hockey type guy and we're glad we have him."

Palat (1g-1a), Mercer (3a) and Bratt (2) all posted multi-point games. The Devils had seven different scorers and 14 different players record a point. Even goaltender Vitek Vanecek, who made his first start since Game 2 of the First Round, was credited with an assist.

"We were focused right from the get-go," Hughes said. "Up and down the lineup, a lot of compete, a lot of guys winning their battles, a lot of skating. That's our game. We got to our game right away and it showed tonight."

And so the Second Round series is closely following the script of the First Round.

In the words of Tyler Durden of Fight Club, "it's déjà vu all over again."

New Jersey lost the opening two games by embarrassing margins (10-2 in Round One, 11-2 in Round Two).

The Devils entered Game 3, switching their starting goaltender, needing to avoid 3-0 deficit.

And just like a series ago, the Devils earned a victory in that critical Game 3 to make it a 2-1 series, thanks to the big guns (although an overtime wasn't need this time around).

"We knew we had to be better," Ruff said. "This group understands where we're at. We were down 0-2 before.

"To start the way we did and get those guys on the board … really felt our top guys from Palat to Nico gave us what we needed."

The first three games of this series have matched the previous. Whether or not history will continue to repeat itself will be determined Tuesday night in Game 4 at Prudential Center.

"We've been in this situation before. We've been down 2-0," Hughes said. "You don't want to say you're comfortable there. But you know it's still a long series to go. We're back in this thing now, 2-1, and have a really, really good opportunity ahead of us."

"I'm definitely proud, but it's still 2-1," Hischier said. "Now we have to win another home game."