*Photo from All About the Jersey*
So far, so good in New Jersey. Jack Hughes scored two goals, Jonas Siegenthaler had 3 assists, and the New Jersey Devils defeated the Detroit Red Wings with a 4-3 victory on Thursday night in Newark.
In their season opener, it was Hughes who led the way for the Devils, scoring a pair of goals as the Devils were able to hold off the Red Wings. Siegenthaler had the most points with 3 while Dougie Hamilton scored.
Devils head coach Lindy Ruff said that "I thought in the second period we got going pretty good for a while, there were pockets of good play. 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."
After a scoreless first period, Daniel Sprong got the Red Wings on the board, giving them a 1-0 lead with an unassisted goal. Hughes then tied the game for the Devils with a power play goal, assisted by Ondrej Palat. With 1:17 left in the period, Hughes scored his second goal of the night, assisted by Siegenthaler and Tyler Toffoli.
Alex DeBrincat scored on the power play 10:43 into the 3rd period for the Red Wings, tying the game 2-2. Hamilton scored at the 15:37 mark of the period to make it 3-2 Devils, assisted by Siegenthaler. Erik Haula made it 4-2 with an empty net goal, assisted by Siegenthaler and John Marino. Robby Fabbri answered back for Detroit to make it 4-3, but the Devils hung on from there.
Hughes said after the game that "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."
Vitek Vanecek got the start in the season opener for the Devils, picking up the win. Vanecek stopped 32 out of the 35 shots on goal he was tested with by the Red Wings, posting a .914 save percentage in the win.
On the other end of the ice was Ville Husso for the Red Wings, who got saddled with the loss. Husso turned aside 23 of the 26 shots that the Devils sent towards him, which was good for a .885 save percentage.
Detroit head coach Derek Lalonde said of the loss that "We'll take the first and third, but the second period just got away from us with turnovers. Husso made some big saves. They are a fast team that gets chances, and they got chances."
The Devils play on Friday night against the Arizona Coyotes with a back to back, with Akira Schmid getting the start. The Red Wings host the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday night, with Husso expected to start.
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