Jack Hughes scores twice for Devils, Hellebuyck wins home debut against Oilers

NEWARK, N.J. -- Jack Hughes had two goals and an assist for the New Jersey Devils in a 4-3 shootout win against the Edmonton Oilers at Prudential Center on Tuesday.

Connor Brown had a goal and an assist for the Devils (10-5-0), who are 6-1-0 in their past seven games.

Connor Hellebuyck made 18 saves for his third straight win in his first start at Prudential Center as a member of the Devils. The 33-year-old goalie was acquired in a trade with the Winnipeg Jets on Oct. 23.

"It was two really good hockey teams going at it and playing a little bit of chess at times and really laying it on the line," Hellebuyck said. "I thought the guys played really good in front of me. I mean, the second period, I think they only got (three) shots so that's almost textbook."

Evan Bouchard and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, who became Edmonton's all-time leader in games played (1,038) on Tuesday, each had a goal and an assist for the Oilers (11-2-3). Kasperi Kapanen had two assists and Tristan Jarry made 31 saves for Edmonton, which lost for the first time in eight games on the road this season (7-0-1), but does have points in its past five games (3-0-2).

"I don't know what was going on (in the second period)," Edmonton coach Mike Babcock said. "They were way better than us. They were way faster. We just kept turning it over. We feel fortunate to get a point here tonight. They were better than us."

Connor McDavid had one assist to extend his season-opening point/assist streak to 16 games. The Oilers captain leads the NHL with 31 assists.

Arseny Gritsyuk scored in the top of the fourth round of the shootout and Hellebuyck stopped Kapanen to secure the victory. Jesper Bratt also scored in the shootout for the Devils, and McDavid for the Oilers.

"I do have a little bit of a plan (in shootouts)," Bratt said. "But you've taken so many shootout shots throughout your career, you kind of just know what your strengths are and goalies’ weakness. You try to expose that, and I think me and 'Gritz' did a good job there."

Bouchard gave the Oilers a 1-0 lead at 8:29 of the first period on a slap shot from the top of the left face-off circle.

Brown tied the game 1-1 with a power-play goal at the left post at 7:42 of the second period, chipping in the loose puck on the rebound of his netfront redirect of a Hughes shot.

"It was nice to get a couple bounces," Brown said. "I thought we did a good job of kind of taking what they gave us. They're pressuring so we kind of simplified and got the puck to the net."

Hughes scored twice in a span of 45 seconds for a 3-1 lead.

He connected on a one-timer from the right face-off circle at 14:50 of for a 2-1 lead and then scored on a backdoor play at the left post at 15:35, the puck going in off his left skate from a cross-crease pass from Brown.

Nugent-Hopkins pulled the Oilers within 3-2 with a power-play goal on a shot from the top of the left face-off circle that deflected off the stick of Brown at 18:16.

Leon Draisaitl made it 3-3 on a one-timer from the right circle during a 5-on-3 power play 1:00 into the third period. McDavid earned the second assist on the play to keep his NHL-record season-opening assist streak alive.

"They skate well, they move the puck really well," Draisaitl said of the Devils. "Their puck movement makes them fast and they got the legs to go with it, so they have a good team."

McDavid was limited to one shot on goal in 24:15 of ice time and was shadowed for most of game by Devils captain Nico Hischier, who finished 11-for-19 on face-offs.

"I thought Nico's line did a good job; it's a tough task mentally," New Jersey coach Sheldon Keefe said. "You got to be real responsible with the puck, good defensively. It could be a bit of a grind, but they did a good job."

NOTES: McDavid has a point in 18 of his 19 career games against the Devils (seven goals, 25 assists). … McDavid became the fourth player in NHL history to reach 40 points (nine goals, 31 assists) in 16 games or fewer, following Mario Lemieux (12 games in 1995-96 and 1988-89, 14 games in 1992-93), Wayne Gretzky (15 games in 1984-85 and 1983-84) and Joe Malone (16 games in 1917-18). … Bouchard extended his season-opening road point streak to eight games and became just the third defenseman in the past decade to record a run of that length, following Filip Hronek (11 games in 2022-23) and Cale Makar (10 games, 2025-26). ... Bouchard has a point in four straight games (two goals, five assists). ... The Devils went 2-for-5 on the power play to end a 0-for-10 slump in their previous four games.