Jack Hughes scored twice in the second period, Dougie Hamilton netted the go-ahead goal in the third and the New Jersey Devils defeated the Detroit Red Wings 4-3 on Thursday in the season opener for both teams at Newark, N.J.
Vitek Vanecek stopped 32 shots for New Jersey. Erik Haula added a goal, while Jonas Siegenthaler had three assists.
Daniel Sprong, Alex DeBrincat and Robby Fabbri scored for Detroit, while Ville Husso made 23 saves.
The Red Wings controlled the first period, outshooting the Devils 14-6, but the teams reached the first intermission in a scoreless deadlock.
New Jersey took a 2-1 lead in the second period.
Sprong broke through with 7:46 remaining in the period. Michael Rasmussen tried a wraparound that Vanecek stopped. However, the goalie didn’t secure the puck, and as Sprong moved toward the net, it bounced in off his skate.
Hughes scored with the man advantage to tie it up. With the Red Wings’ David Perron in the penalty box for slashing Nico Hischier, Hughes skated into Detroit territory along the left side. He took a shot from a tough angle but managed to squeeze it behind Husso with 6:21 left in the period. Ondrej Palat picked up an assist.
Hughes’ second goal came with 1:17 remaining in the middle frame. He skated in along the right side this time, then moved into the slot and beat Husso on the glove side. Tyler Toffoli and Siegenthaler had the assists.
With Hughes in the penalty box for slashing Jake Walman, the Red Wings tied the game with 9:17 remaining in the third. Dylan Larkin skated into the slot and got the puck to DeBrincat, who beat Vanecek on the stick side.
The Devils regained the advantage with 4:23 left on Hamilton’s shot from the point after New Jersey won a faceoff in the Detroit zone. Hamilton’s blast beat Husso on the glove side.
The Red Wings’ Jeff Petry committed a holding penalty with 2:40 left. Just 10 seconds later, the Devils’ Jesper Bratt went to the box for interference.
Haula scored an empty-net goal with 1:31 remaining. Fabbri responded with a power-play goal scored with 34 seconds left, but the Red Wings couldn’t get an equalizer.
–Field Level Media
