Jack Hughes scores 2 power-play goals, Devils defeat Jets

NEWARK, N.J. -- Jack Hughes scored two power-play goals for the New Jersey Devils in a 4-1 win against the Winnipeg Jets at Prudential Center on Thursday.

"That was definitely one of our better games; we played really well," Hughes said.

Timo Meier and Nico Hischier each had a goal and two assists, and Luke Hughes had an NHL career-high three assists for the Devils (34-32-4), who have won two straight. Jake Allen made 18 saves in his third straight start.

"I just think we're playing with a lot of confidence right now," Luke Hughes said. "[New Jersey coach Travis Green] instills that confidence in us, and we just have to keep going and try to get as many points as we can."

New Jersey went 3-for-4 on the power play and 4-for-4 on the penalty kill.

"Special teams won that game tonight," said Hischier, the Devils captain. "The penalty kill was really strong, didn't panic. I think they had a lot of offensive-zone time on the power play, but we didn't panic and kept them on the outside. They have really good players that can make plays, so props to our special teams."

Laurent Brossoit made 37 saves in the third of a five-game road trip for the Jets (44-20-5), who had won three in a row. Winnipeg remained in a three-way tie with the Colorado Avalanche and Dallas Stars atop the Central Division.

Jets associate coach Scott Arniel filled in for coach Rick Bowness for a second straight game after Bowness returned to Winnipeg on Tuesday for a minor medical procedure.

"Our penalty kill had been trending better than what it showed tonight," Arniel said. "You can't give up three goals. We had some chances to clear pucks, and we didn’t. We had some situations, even right near the end when [the penalty] was almost over, and we just kind of fell asleep on those situations. At the end of the day, their power play was certainly a lot more dangerous than ours was."

Allen made five saves in the first period. He stopped Nikolaj Ehlers' breakaway attempt with his right pad at 5:54.

"[Allen's] playing really well for us," Hischier said. "He's making the saves we need, and he looks so solid and confident back there. That just gives the team momentum if the goaltender makes a huge save that brings some momentum right back to your team. That's what he's been doing."

Jack Hughes gave the Devils a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal at 9:00 of the second period when he followed up a rebound just outside the left post.

"We're snapping the puck a little bit more, a little quicker, shooting more pucks, and recovering more pucks on the power play," he said. "It's much cleaner and crisper on the power play. We're tipping pucks and they're going into the back of the net."

Ehlers made it 1-1 at 16:47, skating over the blue line and into the left face-off circle before scoring on a wrist shot.

"Just overall, not good enough," Ehlers said. "Obviously, special teams wasn't there, both of them. Five-on-five, I think at times, we did a lot of really good things and got chances, and then there were times where we didn't do the right thing. They were able to skate around in our zone and get big chances.

"We're not happy with this one."

Hischier put New Jersey back in front 2-1 at 5:59 of the third period, scoring on a redirection from the slot with three seconds left on a power play.

Jack Hughes pushed it to 3-1 with a power-play goal at 11:52 on a wrist shot from the high slot through a screen.

"Both Hugheses have been very good," Green said. "Luke's game is sharp right now. Everyone knows Jack's a special player and one of the best players in the world, really. I don't think we're surprised when he has a dominating game. Luke is just a great young player. He's going to have great nights like this a lot more often."

Meier scored an empty-net goal at 19:11 for the 4-1 final.

NOTES: Luke Hughes became the third rookie defenseman in franchise history with three power-play assists in a game (Will Butcher, Oct. 7, 2017; Bruce Driver, Dec. 14, 1984). He is the first rookie defenseman to do so in the NHL since his brother Quinn Hughes (Vancouver Canucks) on Nov. 21, 2019. ... Meier has 12 goals in his past 14 games after scoring 10 in his first 43. ... Jack Hughes had 10 shots in 20:36. … Jets forward Tyler Toffoli had two shots on goal in 17:55 of ice time in his 800th NHL game and first against the Devils since being traded from New Jersey on March 8. … Winnipeg defenseman Josh Morrissey had four shots in a game-high 25:42.