Hughes scores twice, Devils hand Penguins 4th straight loss

PITTSBURGH -- Jack Hughes scored twice, and the New Jersey Devils handed the Pittsburgh Penguins their fourth straight loss, 4-2 at PPG Paints Arena on Friday.

Dougie Hamilton had a goal and an assist, and Nico Hischier scored short-handed for the Devils (23-11-2), who had lost two straight and eight of nine. Vitek Vanecek made 25 saves.
"Really gritty effort," New Jersey coach Lindy Ruff said. "It was a hard-fought game, really pretty even 5-on-5. … I think we didn't panic."
Evgeni Malkin and Jeff Carter scored, and Tristan Jarry made 24 saves for the Penguins (19-11-6), who are 0-2-2 during the skid and 1-3-2 in their past six games. It lost 5-1 at the New York Islanders on Tuesday before letting a four-goal lead slip in a 5-4 overtime loss to the Detroit Red Wings on Wednesday.
Pittsburgh, which was 0-for-9 on the power play, next plays the Boston Bruins in the 2023 Discover NHL Winter Classic at Fenway Park in Boston on Monday.
"I just think we weren't as sharp. We tried to work through it," Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said of the man-advantage. "There was no flow in the game. It was just all special teams, for the most part. That's where the game was won and lost."

Hischier scored short-handed to put New Jersey in front 3-2 at 19:22 of the second period, taking a pass from Michael McLeod and driving past Malkin to the right face-off circle for a wrist shot.
"I think it was definitely a game-changer right there," said Hischier, the Devils captain. "It was a hectic game out there. We kept our heads in the game and just tried to play our game, and that's what we did for 60 minutes. … It just feels good. It definitely feels good to have this win tonight."
The Penguins did not score on a four-minute power play after Erik Haula was given a double-minor for high-sticking Brian Dumoulin at 9:02 of the third period.
"We just weren't getting enough pucks and bodies to the net," Pittsburgh forward Bryan Rust said. "They did a good job of getting in lanes. We were a little bit slow. Our power play has been good for a while. It's unfortunate we have a little bit of an off night."
Malkin gave the Penguins a 1-0 lead at 14:26 of the first period. He stripped Hamilton at the opposite blue line for a breakaway and scored on a snap shot glove side.

The Devils thought they tied it at 3:21 of the second when Hamilton shot glove side from the right circle, but it was waved off after Haula interfered with Jarry. The call was confirmed after Ruff challenged.
But Hughes tied it 1-1 on a power play at 6:18, taking a pass from Hamilton for a snap shot over Jarry's right shoulder.
Carter put Pittsburgh back in front 2-1 at 12:30. Pierre-Olivier Joseph drove past New Jersey defensemen Jonas Siegenthaler and Severson before passing to Carter, who sent a return feed intended for Joseph that went in off Siegenthaler.
Hamilton tied it 2-2 with a wrist shot off a pass from Dawson Mercer at 17:37.
"We want to be on the other side of things," Jarry said. "Just the way we played tonight was better than the previous two losses]. I think we're doing the right things. We just didn't get rewarded."
Hughes scored his second of the game into an empty net for the 4-2 final with five seconds remaining. It was his 20th goal of the season and 13th in the past 16 games.
Devils defenseman Damon Severson led all skaters with 30:41 of ice time, including 12:08 on the penalty kill.
"You don't even think about it when you play in those games," Severson said. "After the game, when you're told how much you played, or you see how much you played [you say
(1,179) for the second-most among Russia-born players in NHL history. Washington Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin leads with 1,452. … Dumoulin had one shot on goal, three hits and one block in his 500th NHL game. … Hamilton's assist on Hughes' first goal was his 400th NHL point. With his goal, Hamilton has 401 points (123 goals, 278 assists) in 705 NHL games. … New Jersey is 18-0-1 when leading after the second period.