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Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt were among six New Jersey players with a goal and an assist, as the Devils snapped a five-game home losing streak by cooling off the Vancouver Canucks with a 7-2 victory on Monday night in Newark, N.J.
Ryan Graves, Dawson Mercer, Yegor Sharangovich and Jesper Boqvist also had a goal with an assist, Dougie Hamilton scored and Nico Daws made 36 saves for the Devils, who matched their highest-scoring game of the season and have totaled 18 goals while winning two of the last three.
Hughes, playing against brother Quinn for the third time in their NHL careers, opened the scoring with his fifth goal in six contests to extend his point streak to seven games (five goals, eight assists). Bratt, meanwhile, registered his team-leading 19th goal and fifth in three games.
Vasily Podkolzin and Tanner Pearson scored for Vancouver, which had won three straight and five of six. Jaroslav Halak stopped eight of 14 shots in just over 26 minutes before being pulled. Thatcher Demko finished for the Canucks in net, saving 18 of 19 shots.
Meeting for the first time since Nov. 10, 2019, the Canucks are mired in an 0-9-3 slide against the Devils.
Following a Vancouver turnover, Hughes raced with the puck over the Canucks’ blue line and beat Halak for a 1-0 Devils lead 9:15 into the game. It was another Canucks’ turnover that led to Sharangovich’s fourth goal in four games, with 4:36 left in the opening frame. On the power play, Bratt found Mercer on the doorstep to convert with 2:16 left before the first intermission.
Vancouver, however, made it 3-1 through Podkolzin at the 1:36 mark of the second period. New Jersey, though, regained its three-goal edge 1:32 later, when Boqvist outraced Quinn Hughes to the puck and pushed it by Halak. Just under two minutes after that, Graves made good off his shot from the point.
Halak’s disastrous evening ended 1:12 later when Bratt’s wrister gave New Jersey a 6-1 lead. It marked the second straight start that Halak has been pulled.
With 11:46 left in the second, Pearson went five-hole for his fourth goal in five games. Hamilton added to New Jersey’s fun with 8:18 left in regulation.
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