Hughes gives Devils OT victory against Stars

DALLAS -- Jack Hughes scored his second goal of the game 20 seconds into overtime to give the New Jersey Devils a 3-2 win against the Dallas Stars at American Airlines Center on Friday.

Hughes scored from the left face-off circle on a shot that deflected off the stick of Stars forward Tyler Seguin.
"I don't know if I maybe should not have touched the puck," Seguin said. "I asked [Stars goalie Jake Oettinger] about it after, and he said that's what you've got to try to do is get a stick on it. Honestly, [I] couldn't believe it took a dip like that."

Vitek Vanecek made 33 saves for his ninth straight victory for the Devils (32-13-4), who won 6-4 at the Nashville Predators on Thursday and are 8-1-1 in the past 10 games.
It was New Jersey's last game before its bye week. The Devils return Feb. 6, when they'll host the Vancouver Canucks.
"Big saves when you need them," New Jersey defenseman Damon Severson said. "Years past, that hasn't been the case and, unfortunately, that's buried us in games. This year, it's been a key to our success, our goaltending. We look forward to those guys (Vanecek, Mackenzie Blackwood) even getting better for us and keeping those pucks out of the net and making those key saves when we need them."
Roope Hintz and Ty Dellandrea scored, and Oettinger made 26 saves for the Stars (28-13-10), who played their last game before their bye week. They return Feb. 6 at home against the Anaheim Ducks.
Dallas has lost each of its past three games in overtime by a 3-2 score. It's the first time this season the Stars have lost three straight in any fashion.
"We've got some good hockey minds in this room. We'll talk to the coaching staff and we'll come up with a plan [for overtime]," Dallas captain Jamie Benn said. "Finding ways to get points is great, but after the break we need to find a way to get these wins in overtime because these points are going to be big."

The Stars took a 1-0 lead at 10:50 of the first period when Dellandrea was credited with a goal after his shot toward the slot bounced in off Devils forward Erik Haula.
Hintz made it 2-0 at 16:44 when he scored five seconds into a 5-on-3 power play on a shot from the top of the left circle. It was his 20th goal of the season and 100th in the NHL.
"Once we got past the penalties in the first period, which kind of took some of our better players out of play, I thought we got on top of them," New Jersey coach Lindy Ruff said. "We frustrated them. Got some big saves when we needed them. But to come back from being down 2-0, we found a way to tie it up and win it in overtime."

Hughes slipped the puck five-hole on a breakaway to cut it to 2-1 at 1:05 of the second period.
"The first period was really tough, they scored two goals," Vanecek said. "We came back in the second period. I knew it was going to be hard, back to back, we fly two hours. I knew I had to step it up one period, and it was the second one, and I did. I'm so happy for it."
Miles Wood tied it 2-2 at 3:55 on a shot from the high slot, his first goal since Dec. 13 (20 games).
"We created enough chances to win that game 4-2," Stars coach Peter DeBoer said. "You've got to give their goalie credit, he got them to overtime. Then, that reared its head again. We'll take the break and I'll go sit in a dark corner somewhere in Florida at the All-Star Game and try to figure out this overtime thing and come back and make sure in the second half we're better in that area."
NOTES:With his 10th game-winning goal, Hughes tied John MacLean for the most by a player in Devils/Colorado Rockies/Kansas City Scouts history age 21 or younger. Hughes has 33 goals in 49 games, the most in franchise history before their 50th game (Claude Lemieux, 31, 1991-92). He also extended his point streak to eight games (seven goals, eight assists). … Vanecek's winning streak ties Martin Brodeur for the longest in franchise history. Brodeur won nine or more games in a row six times, the last Nov. 17-Dec. 7, 2007. … Benn had an assist and a game-high seven shots in his 999th NHL game.