On Wednesday, October 30th – the Devils shutout the Canucks, the ‘Hughes Bowl’ taking place in Vancouver at Rogers Arena. Only one Hughes brother scored during this game – Jack Hughes, scoring his fourth goal of the season, which had also been New Jersey’s fifth goal of the game. Nico Hischier picked up a goal and two assists, and Jacob Markstrom made 20 saves to shutout the Canucks. The Devils will be taking on the Calgary Flames next on Friday, and the Canucks head out on the road to take on the San Jose Sharks to start off their three-game road trip on Saturday.
New Jersey Devils Lineup:
Meier – Hischier – Mercer
Palat – Hughes – Bratt
Cotter – Haula – Noesen
Tatar – Dowling – Bastian
Dillon – Hamilton
Siegenthaler – Kovacevic
Hughes – Pesce
Markstrom
Allen
Vancouver Canucks Lineup:
DeBrusk – Miller – Boeser
Bains – Pettersson – Garland
Heinen – Blueger – Sherwood
Hoglander – Suter – Sprong
Hughes – Hronek
Soucy – Myers
Brannstrom – Juulsen
Silovs
Lankinen
Only 53 seconds into the first period – Nico Hischier got things started during a 2-on-1 to put New Jersey ahead 1-0 with his 10th goal of the season, leading the NHL in goals currently. He received a pass from Dawson Mercer and fired a short-side shot over Arturs Silovs’ blocker from the bottom of the left circle.
Dawson Mercer struck early to make it a 2-0 lead at 18:26 of the second period, also during a 2-on-1. He scored on a shorthanded goal, converting a rebound from Nico Hischier’s shot off the right pad of Arturs Silovs. Not long after the second Devils goal, Timo Meier made it 3-0 for New Jersey at 16:54. Hischier drove up the ice with the puck, passing it over to Meier in Vancouver’s zone, who went on to send a wrist shot between the legs of Tyler Myers from the left face-off dot on the rush. On another rush chance, Ondrej Palat extended the lead to 4-0 later on in the middle frame with 5:56 on the clock when he knocked his own rebound out of the air as he was cutting across the top of the crease, it bouncing off the post and in off Silovs’ back. Jacob Markstrom made an incredible stop on Teddy Blueger on a breakaway, preserving his first shutout of the season and the 21st of his career.
It’s the Hughes Bowl, so obviously, one of the Hughes brothers has to score… Jack Hughes gave the Devils a 5-0 lead with 10:38 on the clock in the third, recording his fourth goal of the season. After a few passes between Jesper Bratt and Stefan Noesen, Hughes scored on a backdoor pass from Noesen on the power play… giving him two points in the second NHL game that features all three of the Hughes brothers. Getting fed in front by Nathan Bastian, who skated with the puck from behind the Canucks’ net and to the left corner, sent it over to Tomas Tatar, who scored on a backdoor tap-in with 5:54 remaining in the third for the 6-0 final.
Nico Hischier on what he makes of the game as a full team game, not giving the Canucks much, and Erik Haula in the penalty box: “I think we had a really solid game, and we executed our game plan. That was pretty simple from start to end. We executed our game plan and it got us to win,” – “They’re picking up a lot, they’re trying to beat us up the ice, and we didn’t give them much… we know that if we have room, we can make plays… Classic Haulsy!”
Quinn Hughes on the loss and the Conor Garland fight: “Not good enough… in pretty much every way,” – “He’s a competitive guy, and he’s got a lot of care. That’s why he’s been such a good player for us over the course of a couple years.”
Notes:
– Both Jack Hughes and Dawson Mercer picked up a goal and an assist.
– Arturs Silovs gave up six goals on 22 shots… this had been his first start in six games for the Canucks.
– All three of the brothers have at least one point in the first game, which was a 6-5 victory for the Devils on December 5th, 2023… It had also been the eighth time Jack and Quinn had played against each other, and New Jersey improved to 7-1-0 in those games… with 15 points (eight goals, seven assists) for Jack and five assists for Quinn.
– Quinn Hughes had a total of 10 shot attempts in a Canucks-high 26:23, however, only three of those shots made it on net.
– The Devils were 1-for-2 on the power play, killing off all three Canucks chances with the man-advantage, including a four-minute penalty to Jesper Bratt for high-sticking 4:00 into the game. … Bratt recorded one assist, extending his point streak to six games (seven points – one goal, six assists).
– Brock Boeser’s point streak was put to an end, stopping at six games with three goals and four assists.
