Hughes' OT Winner Gives Devils Comeback Win | GAME STORY

It a matchup that featured lots of youthful talent and back-and-forth scoring, it was New Jersey that escaped with a 6-5 overtime victory against Edmonton Friday afternoon at Prudential Center.
The Devils had leads of 1-0, 2-1, 3-2 and 4-3 on goals from Jack Hughes (PP), Nico Hischier, Dawson Mercer and Janne Kuokkanen. But they could never get that "next goal" to extend their lead and trailed 5-4 in the third period.
Yegor Sharangovich scored with 32 seconds remaining on a 6-on-5 to force overtime. Hughes scored in overtime (second OT goal of the season) in a scene reminiscent of the his season-opening overtime tally. The Devils raised their sticks to the crowd following the celebration.
"I don't even know if it snuck in blocker or seven hole, I'm just trying to shoot the puck more. The more you shoot it the more pucks will go in the net," said Hughes, who has three goals and six points in his past two games. "I shot it through the screen and McDavid's legs. Once I got around him I saw the puck trickle in, and we were pretty pumped up."
The Oilers received goals from Connor McDavid (2), Kailer Yamamoto (2) and Devin Shore.
"It was a wild game, but at the end of the day we came up with the two points," assistant coach Alain Nasreddine, who was acting head coach, said. "We did a lot of good. There are some things, like any game, that you'd like to improve on. At the end of the day I like the resiliency, up-down, up-down, lose the lead at the end and then come back. So it was a huge win.

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The Devils hit the road for a two-game trip to Washington and Boston. The game against the Capitals Sunday can be seen on MSG+ and heard on the Devils Hockey Network, including right here at NewJerseyDevils.com. Puck drop is 3:08 p.m. ET.
Here are some observations from the game...
- The Devils and Oilers did not disappoint in the entertainment department. The game featured two of the youngest and most talented teams in the NHL, and the goals to match. The contest also featured 16 first-round picks (five for New Jersey, 11 for Edmonton) and four first-overall draft picks. It was a back-and-forth affair with each team trading goal after goal. It was fast-paced and fun hockey. There were no real losers here. - There was an interesting juncture during the game when the Oilers took a 5-4 lead. There was a delayed penalty to be called on the Devils and it appeared that both Dougie Hamilton and Hughes had touched the puck during the sequence, which would have warranted a whistle. However, no whistle was blown, play continued and the Oilers' Yamamoto scored.

The Devils tried to challenge the goal and the referees conferred with Toronto for a long period of time only to eventually rule that the play could not be challenged.

"They came back to the bench and said this is challenge-able if you want to challenge," Nasreddine said. "Dougie Hamilton had the puck on his stick and whacked at it, which as pretty clear. It should have been blown but they didn't.

"I think that's why it took so much time. They had to review the rule. They came back and said it was their mistake and we couldn't challenge it. That's the end of it."

- The Oilers entered the game with the NHL's best power play, clicking at a 31.5-percent rate. The Devils knew it would be a huge challenge for the PK unit to handle, however, the best way to stop a power play is to not even give it an opportunity - in other words, stay out of the box. The Devils heeded that call, taking just one penalty in the game and killing it off (though one was negated on a delayed call with a goal against).

"We were standing right. Most times you take penalties when you are out of position," captain Nico Hischier. "I feel like today most of the time we were in position.

"It was huge. It was our game plan as well, not taking penalties because we knew they had a great power play."

The key to being better disciplined for the Devils was using their legs to defend instead of lazily using their stick, which can lead to hooks, slashes, etc. New Jersey was able to stay well above the Oilers on plays, which limited their odd-man rushes against - minus a McDavid breakaway. Keeping the vaunted Edmonton power play off the ice gave the Devils a fighting chance in the game.

"Guys did a good job with their legs," Nasreddine said. "There was no reaching. There was no grabbing. That's not a power play you want to put on the ice four or five times. We did a really good job."

- The game featured a wild beginning. There were three goals scored into the opening 3:05 minutes of the game, all within 127 seconds of each other. And each of the three goals were scored by a first-overall draft pick (Hughes, 2019; McDavid, '15; Hischier, '17). - As expected, the Devils used Mike McLeod and his line with Nathan Bastian and Marián Studenič to go head-to-head against the McDavid line. Though they didn't get over the boards every single time against McDavid, McLeod did the heavy lifting against the game's best player, while Nico Hischier's unit took the bulk of the shifts against Leon Draisaitl. At times though, McLeod and Hischier would flip assignments based on the flow of the game and switch their lines defensed. - The Devils had to face some early adversity before the puck even dropped in the afternoon tilt as head coach Lindy Ruff tested positive for COVID-19 and was forced to enter protocol. Thus, he couldn't be on the bench.

Assistant coach Alain Nasreddine took over in Ruff's stead. Nasreddine had previously been an interim head coach for New Jersey in 2019-20, leading the team to a 19-16-8 record. With Nasreddine handling the head coaching duties, he also helped Mark Recchi with the forward group, while assistant coach Chris Taylor came down from the press box to be on the bench to oversee the defensemen.

Ruff wasn't completely indisposed. Though he was quarantining, he was on headset with the coaches and was able to communicate with them throughout the game.

"He did a great job. For us players, stuff like that happens and we shouldn't change anything," Hischier said. "That's what we did. We were talking about that before the game. It doesn't matter who is behind the bench. We are playing the same system. We want to play the same way with Lindy or Nas."