Devils defeat Sabres, keep pace in Metro, clinch home ice in 1st round

NEWARK, N.J. --The New Jersey Devils kept pace in the Metropolitan Division and clinched home-ice advantage in the Eastern Conference First Round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs with a 6-2 win against the Buffalo Sabres at Prudential Center on Tuesday.

Jack Hughes set a Devils single-season points record, Tomas Tatar scored two third-period goals and had an assist, Nathan Bastian had three assists and Vitek Vanecek made 36 saves for New Jersey (51-22-8), which remained one point behind the Carolina Hurricanes, who defeated the Detroit Red Wings 4-1.
The Devils moved three points ahead of the idle New York Rangers and will have home ice in the first round for the first time since 2009-10.
"You work so hard throughout the year and our fans support us so much, so the fact that we get to kick off Game 1 and we play at the Rock, we know our fans are going to bring it," Jack Hughes said. "So we're really excited. As much as it is for us, it's for them too."

The Devils tied the New Jersey/Colorado Rockies/Kansas City Scouts record of 51 wins set in 2008-09 after going 27-46-9 last season, and their 110 points are one behind the record of 111 set in 2000-01. They end the regular season at the Washington Capitals on Thursday.
"I'm not that surprised," Tatar said. "Because, honestly, I could tell the talent we had here last year and the result we got last year wasn't the projection where we should be. Obviously we had some additions to our team, we should be better, and we are. The hardest part of the season is just coming up and we're going to be focusing on that."
Jeff Skinner and Mattias Samuelsson scored, Alex Tuch had two assists and Devon Levi made 24 saves for Buffalo (40-33-7), which was eliminated from playoff contention for the 12th consecutive season.
"You put a lot of work in, and you fight for something, and that's life," Sabres coach Don Granato said. "But it has to make you better. And we don't have a lot of experience, so going through this experience, you have to unfortunately soak up the negative. A lot of things in life are learned through negative. Unfortunately, it's just the way people grow."

Luke Hughes was minus-1 in 11:15 in his NHL debut, The 19-year-old defenseman signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the Devils on Saturday. Hughes was the No. 4 pick in the 2021 NHL Draft and played two seasons at the University of Michigan, where he had 87 points (27 goals, 60 assists) in 80 games.
"I don't think I was very nervous tonight, surprisingly, but it was super cool going out there and seeing the crowd, and then obviously with 'Jackie' breaking the record it was pretty special," Luke said. "He just gave me pretty good advice. He just said play my game and be confident. Have fun, so I think I did that, and it was a big one for us."
Jesper Boqvist gave New Jersey a 1-0 lead by banking a shot from the left circle off Buffalo defenseman Henri Jokiharju at 11:42 of the first period.
Jonas Siegenthaler made it 2-0 at 1:06 of the second period, a sequence that began when Tatar quickly moved the puck into the Sabres end. Hischier's touch pass then found Siegenthaler for a shot from the top of the left circle.
Buffalo had a goal from JJ Peterka overturned at 14:28 when video review determined he preceded the puck into the offensive zone and was in an offside position prior to his goal.
Skinner then cut it to 2-1 at 6:55 when he put in a rebound of a Casey Mittelstadt shot.
"Honestly, it's pretty empty," Sabres defenseman Rasmus Dahlin said. "I didn't know I was going to feel like this. But the boys have fought hard and now we know what we're capable of."

Miles Wood restored New Jersey's two-goal lead at 9:28. He dumped the puck behind the Sabres net and cycled in front to poke in a rebound to make it 3-1.
Tatar scored from the left circle at 7:10 of the third period to extend the lead to 4-1.
Samuelsson brought Buffalo within 4-2 with a wrist shot at 13:15 before Tatar (17:28 for 5-2) and Jack Hughes (18:15 for 6-2) each scored into an empty net, giving the latter 97 points this season to break the franchise record of 96 set by Patrik Elias in 2000-01.
"I didn't think it'd come from an empty net," Hughes said. "I'm really excited that happened in front of the home crowd, and with one game left it's not much time, but you put it behind you now."

NOTES:Jack and Luke are the third set of brothers in franchise history (regular season or playoffs), joining Patrik and Peter Sundstrom (New Jersey) and Bob and Paul Miller (Colorado). … Lindy Ruff is the second Devils coach to win 51 games (Brent Sutter, 51, 2008-09), which is also the third-most in his NHL career behind the 53 victories with Buffalo in 2006-07 and 52 in 2005-06. His 97 wins are tied Sutter for fifth in Devils history. … New Jersey is 42-7-6 when Hischier gets at least one point this season and 23-7-2 when Jack Hughes scores a goal. … New Jersey forward Jesper Bratt had an assist to extend his point streak to six games (one goal, five assists). … Mittelstadt had an assist and has 13 points (three goals, 10 assists) in the past nine games. … Buffalo forward Tage Thompson played his 300th NHL game.