Hughes gets 2 goals in season opener, Devils defeat Red Wings

NEWARK, N.J. -- Jack Hughes scored two goals, and the New Jersey Devils opened their season with a 4-3 win against the Detroit Red Wings at Prudential Center on Thursday.

Dougie Hamilton and Erik Haula scored, Jonas Siegenthaler had three assists, and Vitek Vanecek made 32 saves for the Devils.

"Vitek made a lot of good saves until we found our game," New Jersey coach Lindy Ruff said. "We didn't want to start a game like that; they were the better team in the first period. I thought we turned the corner in the second but overall, it wasn't by any means a Picasso that we drew up there."

Daniel Sprong and Robby Fabbri each scored for the Red Wings in their season opener. Ville Husso made 23 saves.

Alex DeBrincat scored in his debut after he was traded to Detroit from the Ottawa Senators on July 9 and then signed a four-year, $31.5 million contract ($7.875 million average annual value). 

"We'll take the first and third (periods), but the second period just got away from us with turnovers," Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde said. "Husso made some big saves. They are a fast team that gets chances, and they got chances."

Hughes, who led New Jersey with a franchise record 99 points (43 goals, 56 assists) last season, scored twice in the span of 5:04 late in the second period for a 2-1 lead. He looks to become just the second player in franchise history to score 40 goals in back-to-back seasons.

"It's definitely not our 'A' game, but a win is a win and come January it'll just be two points, so we want to get off on the right foot, especially with all the noise and it was good for our fans," Hughes said.

Hughes tied it 1-1 from along the goal line after skating down left wing and banking a wrist shot off the helmet of Husso for a power-play goal at 13:39. He then gave the Devils a 2-1 lead at 18:43 on a wrist shot inside the right post after taking a pass from Tyler Toffoli at the blue line and weaving his way to the slot.

"You guys have seen me score those goals my whole career, so I think goalies have a pretty good read on me that I like to shoot from those spots," Hughes said. "But that was just where I wanted to put it. I think it went right where I wanted it to go."

Sprong gave Detroit a 1-0 lead at 12:14 of the second period.

"It was a great start, we could have scored three or four," Husso said. "In the second, they got momentum. We have to get games like this to turn into wins."

DeBrincat tied it 2-2 with a power-play goal on a wrist shot from the left hash mark at 10:43 of the third period.

"It was an emotional game and emotions were high on both benches," Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin said. "Unfortunately, we didn't get a point."

Hamilton scored a slap shot from the point through a screen to give the Devils a 3-2 lead at 15:37 of the third period.

"It's good for us to get the first win," Hamilton said. "I think that'll help us with our confidence and we'll get right back at it tomorrow (against the Arizona Coyotes at Prudential Center)."

Haula scored an empty-net goal at 18:29 for a 4-2 lead.

Fabbri scored a power-play goal on a rebound from the slot at 19:26 for the 4-3 final.

"I thought in the second period we got going pretty good for a while, there were pockets of good play," Ruff said. "I know consistently through the game we can be a lot better. I had individuals that didn't have a very good night. I can point to a lot of different players and a lot of different lines. I thought every line had something missing, so it was hard to get some continuous flow in the game when maybe two guys are going pretty good and one guy wasn't."

NOTES: Hughes is the first player in Devils history with three multipoint efforts in season openers. … Larkin had one assist, finished 13-for-21 (62 percent) on face-offs and led all skaters with six shots on goal. ... Siegenthaler had three assists in a game for the first time in his NHL career, and his third three-point game. ... Ruff needs one victory to pass Al Arbour (905) for the fifth-most wins by a coach in NHL history (regular season and Stanley Cup Playoffs combined).