The Devils held off the Red Wings with a game winning goal on a breakaway from Hughes
The Detroit Red Wings fought despite being badly outshot early, and showed flashes of an exciting young future Tuesday night, but their comeback effort fell short as the New Jersey Devils escaped Little Caesars Arena with a 5-4 overtime victory.
Jack Hughes delivered the decisive blow just 1:19 into overtime, scoring on a breakaway after receiving a pass from Jesper Bratt. The goal ended a back-and-forth contest that saw Detroit battle from behind multiple times.
The Devils controlled the first ten minutes and the complete first period everywhere but the scoreboard, scoring a goal before the Red Wings even had a shot on goal.
Evan Rodrigues opened the scoring on assists from Stefan Noesen and Anthony Mantha at the 6:07 mark.
The Red Wings didn’t get their first shot on goal until over 10 minutes into the game. Though goalie John Gibson kept them in the game.
Emmitt Finnie tied the game with 1:25 left in the period on a shot breaking down the left wing, getting assists from Michael Brandsegg-Nygard and Anton Johansson. That was Johannson’s first career NHL point.
The Devils outshot the Red Wings 15-3 in the first period, yet the game was tied heading into the first intermission.
The second period saw a total of five goals total.
Anthony Mantha, Nico Hischier, and Jesper Bratt scored for the Devils.
Michael Brandsegg-Nygard and Alex DeBrincat scored for the Red Wings, and the Devils took a 4-3 lead into the second intermission.
The Red Wings played their best in the third period. Only allowing six shots. DeBrincat tied the game with 4:14 remaining, on assists from Moritz Seider and Ben Chiarot and the game headed to overtime.
It wouldn’t take long for Hughes to end the game. The Red Wings missed on a pass in their own offensive zone, which quickly led to a breakaway for Hughes on a pass from Bratt, and he didn’t miss, putting it by Gibson for the game winning goal.
