Luke Hughes scored his first NHL goal with 27 seconds remaining in overtime to give the visiting New Jersey Devils a 5-4 win over the Washington Capitals on Thursday and conclude the best regular season in franchise history.
Hughes, who picked up his first career assist earlier in the night, ended his second career game with a wrap-around goal off assists from his brother, Jack Hughes, and Nico Hischier. The tally completed the Devils’ rally from a 4-1, second-period deficit.
Erik Haula had two goals while Miles Wood and Dougie Hamilton also scored for the Devils (52-22-8, 112 points), whose 52 wins were one more than the previous franchise record set during the 2008-2009 season.
The Devils’ 112 points were one more than the previous mark set during the 2000-01 season that ended with New Jersey falling to the Colorado Avalanche in the Stanley Cup Final.
The Devils finished second this season in the Metropolitan Division behind Carolina after the Hurricanes (52-21-9, 113 points) clinched the title with a 6-4 road win over the Florida Panthers on Thursday.
New Jersey will oppose the New York Rangers (47-22-13, 107 points) in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs.
Joe Snively, Rasmus Sandin, Craig Smith and Tom Wilson scored for the Capitals (35-37-10, 80 points), who ended the season by dropping eight of their last nine games (1-6-2).
Trailing 4-2 after two periods, the Devils pulled to within one on Haula’s goal off assists from Jesper Bratt and Jack Hughes just 3:17 into the final period.
The Devils got even when Hamilton blasted a slapshot by Darcy Kuemper with 7:37 left in regulation.
The Capitals jumped out to a 3-0 lead in a little more than 10 minutes.
After taking a pass from Sonny Milano, Snively skated down the right wing and wristed a shot past Mackenzie Blackwood at the 4:36 mark of the first period.
The Capitals doubled their advantage 1:23 later when Sandin scored off assists from Nicklas Backstrom and Alex Ovechkin.
After Smith’s unassisted goal at the 10:18 mark pushed Washington’s lead to 3-0, the Devils capped the first-period scoring when Haula found the net off assists from Yegor Sharangovich and Luke Hughes with 2:54 left.
Blackwood was pulled after Wilson scored just 1:05 into the second period. Blackwood, who allowed four goals on 11 shots, was replaced by Akira Schmid, who finished with 20 saves.
The Devils pulled to within 4-2 on Wood’s power-play goal off assists from Tomas Tatar and Dawson Mercer with 1:24 left in the second period.
–Field Level Media
