Hughes delivers Devils memorable victory to close out 2021
NEWARK » The New Jersey Devils saved one of their most memorable performances of the calendar year for last on Friday afternoon.
Jack Hughes scored his latest memorable overtime game-winning goal in a 6-5 win over the Edmonton Oilers in a New Year’s matinee at the Prudential Center in front of 13,044 fans, many of whom surely seemed as they were going to end 2021 on a sour note.
Hughes combined with Oilers superstar Connor McDavid and Nico Hischier to become just the fourth trio of former first overall draft picks in NHL history to score the first three goals of a game, a feat that occurred in the span of just 3:05, kickstarting a wild, high-scoring contest to close out the calendar year.
“It hit the over, probably,” Hughes joked after the game.
The 11 total goals even included one that likely should never have counted in the first place.
Kailer Yamamoto’s goahead tally for the Oilers, scored at the 8:18 mark of the third period, was not without controversy; the on-ice officials appeared to miss the Devils touching the puck on the delayed penalty call, allowed play to continue and ultimately for Yamamoto to score to give the Oilers a 5-4 lead at the time.
Acting head coach Alain Nasreddine — Lindy Ruff was unexpectedly placed into the league’s COVID protocols just 75 minutes before puck drop — challenged the play, however, after a bizarre near-ten minute delay, the officials
announced that the play wasn’t a challenge-able one to begin with, leading to the following explanation from the National Hockey League’s offices after the fact.
“New Jersey requested a Coach’s Challenge for a Missed Game Stoppage Event to further examine if defenseman Dougie Hamilton played the puck with 11:47 on the clock (8:13 elapsed time) during a delayed penalty, which was prior to Kailer Yamamoto’s goal,” wrote the league in a memo that was forwarded to media.
“However, the play was not challengeable as Rule 38.2 (b) states, ‘that a play that results in a ‘GOAL’ call on the ice where the defending team claims that the play should have been
stopped by reason of any play occurring in the offensive zone that should have resulted in a play stoppage caused by the attacking team but did not.’ The spirit of this rule is to address Missed Game Stoppages in the offensive zone created by the attacking player (not the defending player in the defensive zone).”
In short, tough luck. “They came back to the bench and they said this is challenge-able…but I think the referees thought we were going to challenge Jack (Hughes), but it wasn’t Jack, it was Dougie Hamilton that had the puck on his stick and whacked at it, which was pretty clear, and (the whistle) should have been blown,” Nasreddine said.
“But, they didn’t. They
had to review the rule, then they came back and said they couldn’t challenge, and that was the end of it.”
Ultimately, it wouldn’t matter.
With goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood pulled for the extra attacker, Yegor Sharangovich’s deflection off of Hamilton’s right point shot eluded Oilers netminder Mike Smith with 31.5 seconds left in regulation, sending the game to overtime.
Hughes, who scored the Devils first goal of the game, also potted their last; his wrister through the legs of McDavid squeaked through Smith at the 2:55 mark of the extra session, sending New Jersey into the new year with a seemingly improbable win.