Hughes, Devils rally to defeat Rangers in OT

NEWARK, N.J. --Damon Severson scored 2:47 into overtime for the New Jersey Devils, who rallied from two goals down in the third period for a 4-3 win against the New York Rangers at Prudential Center on Saturday.

Severson stole the puck from Alexis Lafreniere in the Devils zone, skated down on a 2-on-1 with Nico Hischier, and shot blocker side from the right circle for his first NHL overtime goal.
"Not every goal is going to be a Picasso, and it's not going to be a snipe or deke bar down per se, so we got to find a way to score some dirty goals as well," Severson said. "And then when we do have chances to score the nice ones, the 2-on-1's, the breakaways and stuff like that, we got to find a way to put those in as well."

Jack Hughes had two goals and an assist for the Devils (25-12-3), who ended an eight-game home losing streak (0-7-1). Vitek Vanecek made 31 saves.
"I'm extremely proud of our road record, but the home record (11-10-2), I mean, imagine if you pour that 14-2-1 road record into this building, the noise that was in here today," New Jersey coach Lindy Ruff said. "Just the atmosphere, you know, I think it pushes the players, too. As soon as we got the second one, I thought the building was fantastic."
Jimmy Vesey and Chris Kreider scored, and Igor Shesterkin made 39 saves for the Rangers (22-12-7), who had won three in a row.
"I thought we were pretty good for two periods, but we've got to get the job done," Vesey said. "We've got to finish the job. It's one game out of 82. ... We'll take the point."
Jesper Bratt pulled New Jersey to within 3-2 at 8:28 of the third period with a one-timer from the left circle on a power play.
"I just felt it was a good opportunity for me to shoot it and get something going in motion on the power play, and luckily it went in," Bratt said. "We've been playing the right way, so leaving home like this, going on a [season-long five-game road trip] with a win, it's always a good start."
Hughes tied it 3-3 at 10:32, quickly scoring from the right face-off dot after a shot from Ryan Graves deflected to him off Dawson Mercer in slot.
"It was a good way to win and probably not how we wanted to win," Hughes said. "But a comeback win, that's huge for our confidence. … A win is a win. … We wanted to take anything we could get. So it happened to be a comeback win. Like I said, that was a pretty, pretty crazy crowd today. It's a lot of fun playing the Rangers, so when you get to beat them, that's kind of a statement win, too.
"Obviously, they have one of the top goalies in the League. He stood on his head the first two periods. We were able to get a few behind him in the third. That's another good team. That's a big one for us."
New Jersey outshot New York 33-22 in the first two periods. Shesterkin saved all 19 shots he faced in the first.
"Back and forth, a lot of good scoring chances," Rangers coach Gerard Gallant said. "Obviously, 'Shesty' was great tonight. He was our best player. He gave us a chance to win the hockey game. … We had our chances, but we couldn't hold the lead."
Vesey gave New York a 1-0 lead 1:34 into the first period. After receiving a pass off the boards from Lafreniere, Vesey skated around New Jersey defenseman Brendan Smith and scored from the left circle.
Julien Gauthier made it 2-0 at 3:28 of the second period when he chipped the puck past Vanecek after receiving a drop pass from Adam Fox.

Hughes cut it to 2-1 at 9:24, scoring off a turnover by Barclay Goodrow. It was his fifth straight game with a goal.
"He's a great player," Gallant said of Hughes. "We gave him too much ice."
Kreider responded to make it 3-1 at 13:15, knocking in a rebound at the right post.
"They came back," Kreider said. "... We didn't play the kind of hockey we did in the first and second."
NOTES: Hischier's five-game goal streak ended, but he had an assist to extend his point streak to seven games (five goals, four assists). … Hughes has 10 points (eight goals, two assists) during his five-game point streak. He has 26 goals in 40 games, the fewest needed to score 25 goals for New Jersey since Claude Lemieux (36 games) in 1991-92. ... Bratt extended his point streak to five games (three goals, four assists).