Devils score 8, top Blue Jackets to gain in Metropolitan Division race

Jack Hughes had two goals and two assists, and the New Jersey Devils pulled within one point of first place in the Metropolitan Division with an 8-1 win against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, on Thursday.

The Carolina Hurricanes are first with 109 points, one more than New Jersey (50-21-8). Carolina lost 3-0 to the Nashville Predators on Thursday.
"You obviously want to win your division, but everyone in this room knows either way you're going to play a good team in the playoffs," Hughes said.
Timo Meier scored twice and had an assist, and Ryan Graves and Erik Haula each had a goal and an assist for the Devils, who have won four of five. Vitek Vanecek made 16 saves.
New Jersey is one win shy of tying its franchise record for most wins in a season (2008-09) after winning 50 games for the second time in its history.
"It's a great accomplishment for our group," Devils coach Lindy Ruff said. "It's not something that we focus on, but it's gotten to a point where we're there and we want to continue to play good hockey. I mean, we're really just prepping for the postseason."

Joona Luoto scored his first NHL goal for the Blue Jackets (24-46-8), who have lost six of seven. Michael Hutchinson allowed five goals on 24 shots before being replaced by Jon Gillies in the third period. Gillies made nine saves on 12 shots.
"You can see the result out there. It wasn't the best hockey we've been playing," Luoto said. "They kept scoring and scoring. We didn't do anything. It's tough to lose 8-1. It's unacceptable."
Hughes gave the Devils a 1-0 lead 1-0 at 11:35, scoring unassisted on a break before Tomas Tatar made it 2-0 at 1:20 of the second period.
"Those games are fun to play when you see everybody's doing well and everybody's producing, so it was a good night," Tatar said.
Hughes extended it to 3-0 at 2:10, scoring on the power play from a low angle from the right side of the net.
Hughes has 95 points this season (42 goals, 53 assists), pulling within one of tying Patrik Elias (2000-01) for the Devils franchise record for points in a season.
"The better I do, the better the team does," Hughes said. "Of course, you want that record and I'm going to be here for a lot of years, so I'd like to break it this year, but let's see what happens."

Luoto, in his 20th game, cut it to 3-1 at 11:33, but Meier made it 4-1 with a power-play goal at 16:16 after a pass from Hughes.
Haula made it 5-1 at 2:07 of the third period, prompting Hutchinson to be pulled for Gillies.
"They're a good team, and this league is full of them," Columbus forward Sean Kuraly said. "You can't take nights off, take plays off, you can't take shifts off. This year has been a lot of learning, some of it the hard way. It's not fun to be a part of it."
Meier made it 6-1 at 4:40 with his 40th goal of the season and fourth in five games.

Damon Severson scored short-handed at 6:36 to make it 7-1 before Graves scored at 9:27 for the 8-1 final.
Blue Jackets forward Johnny Gaudreau left at 8:10 of the first period because of illness. Columbus has been plagued with injuries, playing eight rookies Thursday and six goalies this season.
"We can be happy over the way we played," Meier said. "These games aren't always easy. They're missing a bunch of guys over there, but we managed it well."
NOTES: The Devils went 3-0-0 against the Blue Jackets this season, outscoring them 18-4 for their first season-series win since 2011-12, when New Jersey won the lone game. … Hughes (21 years, 327 day) is the second-youngest Devils player to reach 200 points, behind Kirk Muller (21 years, 255 days). Hughes has 203 points (86 goals,117 assists) in 241 career games. … He has nine points (two goals, seven assists) over a five-game point streak. … Nico Hischier extended his point streak to five games (one goal, six assists).