Two Goals in 45 Seconds. A Blown Lead. Then Shootout Redemption.
Jack Hughes needed just 45 seconds to turn the game upside down. But beating Edmonton? That took a whole lot longer.
The New Jersey Devils watched a two-goal lead disappear before Arseny Gritsyuk delivered the deciding goal in the fourth round of the shootout, sealing a wild 4-3 victory over the Edmonton Oilers at Prudential Center on Tuesday night.
Hughes Turns the Game on Its Head
Edmonton struck first. Evan Bouchard opened the scoring at 8:29 of the first period, putting the Oilers ahead 1-0.
Then New Jersey caught fire.
Connor Brown tied it on the power play at 7:42 of the second. Hughes took over from there, scoring at 14:50 and again at 15:35. His second goal deflected off his skate from a Brown pass.
Three second-period goals. A 3-1 Devils lead. And Edmonton suddenly had a mountain to climb.
Edmonton Refuses to Go Quietly
The Oilers weren't finished.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, playing a club-record 1,038th game for Edmonton, cut the deficit to 3-2 with a power-play goal at 18:16 of the second.
Just one minute into the third, Leon Draisaitl struck on a 5-on-3 power play to make it 3-3.
Connor McDavid assisted, extending his season-opening point streak to 16 games. He now leads the NHL with 31 assists.
New Jersey's comfortable lead was gone. The game was wide open again.
One Shootout. One Final Save.
Overtime couldn't separate them.
In the shootout, Jesper Bratt and Gritsyuk scored for New Jersey. Then Connor Hellebuyck stopped Kasperi Kapanen's final attempt to finish the job.
Hellebuyck made 18 saves in his first home start as a Devil, earning his third straight win since his October 23 trade from Winnipeg.
Edmonton's Tristan Jarry stopped 31 shots, but the Oilers (11-2-3) suffered their first road loss of the season. They have still earned points in five straight games.
The Devils (10-5-0), meanwhile, have won six of their last seven.
The Twikup Take
New Jersey built a two-goal cushion, watched Edmonton erase it, and still walked away celebrating. That's the kind of escape that builds confidence.
Edmonton leaves with a franchise record for Nugent-Hopkins, McDavid's streak alive, and a point rescued from a night the Oilers were outplayed for long stretches.
The Devils lost their lead. They never lost the game.
Image: AI-generated illustration.