Hughes took a pass up the middle from Jesper Bratt after a Red Wings turnover in their offensive zone and beat John Gibson to the blocker side.
Hughes added two assists, and Bratt also had a goal and two assists for New Jersey, (3-3-0) which lost 4-1 at home to the Ottawa Senators on Monday. Evan Rodrigues and Anthony Mantha each had a goal and an assist, and Jake Allen made 23 saves.
Alex DeBrincat had two goals and an assist, and his linemates Michael Brandsegg-Nygard and Emmitt Finnie each had a goal and an assist for Detroit (1-3-2). Gibson made 32 saves.
Rodrigues gave the Devils a 1-0 lead at 6:07 of the first period. Stefan Noesen blocked Justin Faulk’s clearing attempt and found Rodrigues in the slot for his first goal of the season.
Finnie tied it 1-1 at 18:35, skating down the left wing and beating Allen with a wrist shot over his right shoulder from the face-off dot. Defenseman Anton Johansson was credited with the secondary assist for his first NHL point.
Finnie then set up Detroit’s go-ahead goal at 1:43 of the second period, sending a cross-ice pass to Brandsegg-Nygard, who finished off a 2-on-1. The goal gave the Red Wings a 2-1 lead even though they were being outshot 18-4.
Mantha pulled the Devils even at 2-2 at 7:03, taking a cross-ice pass from Dawson Mercer and scoring from the left side for his first goal of the season.
After Nico Hischier’s power-play goal gave the Devils a 3-2 lead at 10:16, the Red Wings tied the game with the help of some miscommunication by New Jersey.
Allen lost his goal stick, and although the Devils cleared the zone, none of his teammates got it back to him. On Detroit’s next possession, DeBrincat scored on a wrist shot through traffic to make it 3-3 at 15:10.
New Jersey took a 4-3 lead on Bratt’s goal at 16:52, but DeBrincat made it 4-4 at 5:46 of the third period with a one-timer from the left circle.
