NEWARK, N.J. — The Devils turned a tight first period into a rout on Thursday, hammering the Rangers 7-1 at Prudential Center behind Luke Hughes’ first two-goal night in the NHL. New Jersey scored four times in the opening 16:34 of the second period, chased Dylan Garand from the Rangers net and handed coach Sheldon Keefe the 300th victory of his NHL career.
The Devils, now 4-3-0, have put together consecutive wins after taking a 5-4 overtime decision in Detroit on Tuesday. Nico Daws made 18 saves for his first victory of the season, while a balanced New Jersey attack made life difficult for a Rangers club that arrived with the League’s best goal differential at plus-13.
Evan Rodrigues opened the scoring with 30 seconds left in the first. He read a cross-ice pass from Rangers captain J.T. Miller near the top of the right circle, took the puck away and snapped a shot home. It was Rodrigues’ second goal in as many games, following his first for New Jersey in the win over the Red Wings. The forward arrived from the Florida Panthers in a June 30 trade.
Hughes struck 18 seconds into the middle frame, firing from the top of the left circle. The puck changed direction off Rangers defenseman Adam Fox and slipped past Garand. Nico Hischier made it 3-0 at 4:08, working the puck across the goal line from the left post, and Arseny Gritsyuk followed 31 seconds later with a wrist shot from the right circle.
That fourth goal ended Garand’s evening at 4:39 of the second. He stopped nine of 13 shots in his third straight start since Igor Shesterkin suffered a season-ending lower-body injury on Oct. 9. Spencer Martin entered in relief and finished with 15 saves.
Hughes caps the surge as Devils keep pushing
New Jersey did not let up after the change in net. Hughes scored again at 16:34 of the second, shooting from outside the right post for a 5-0 edge. Stefan Noesen added another from the left circle at 7:01 of the third.
Pavel Dorofeyev broke Daws’ shutout bid on a Rangers power play at 8:02 of the third, but the Devils answered late with Cody Glass scoring shorthanded at 14:54 to close the scoring.
Rodrigues supplied a goal and an assist. Timo Meier, Brett Pesce, Dawson Mercer, Dougie Hamilton and Amadeus Lombardi each recorded two assists in the Devils’ most emphatic win of the young season.
