Devils 4, Red Wings 3: Winning ugly

The Devils didn't have their 'A' game – or their 'B' game – but they still found a way to leave with two points.

Follow along on Twitter @ToddCordell | @InfernalAccess

Be sure to join the Discord channel to talk hockey, and everything else, with our writers and subscribers.

---

The New Jersey Devils opened their season with a 4-3 victory over the Detroit Red Wings. I have some thoughts:

The Jack Hughes takeover is underway

I have constantly preached we’re going to see Hughes hit another level this year and, if healthy, blow past the 100 point total no Devils player has ever reached. He showed exactly why last night.

It felt like Hughes didn’t even have his fastball – at least early in the game – and he still scored a pair of goals while recording nine shot attempts, five chances, and distributing the puck effectively.

The Devils dominated the Red Wings with No. 86 on the ice, controlling better than 62% of the expected goal share at 5v5 despite the line leaving a few great chances on the table.

There were several occasions where a Devil broke free and attacked the net with speed but the pass was just a bit off and the opportunity was squandered. Had those been connected on, we could be talking about a three or four point night for Jack with an xG above 70%.

At any rate, I loved to see Hughes take the game over despite not being as smooth, and fully in sync, as we’re used to. I also loved the fire that we really saw start to come out in the playoffs.

Hughes played with a level of passion and outright anger that should give opponents nightmares. He looked pissed off and like it was his life’s mission to make life hell on Red Wings defenders; especially in the latter half of the game.

You don’t want to see the penalties – at least retaliatory ones – but I have no problem with the one he took on Moritz Seider. It was almost as if he thought to himself ‘you want to take a run at me? Bring it!’ and went from the hunted to the hunter.

I loved all of it. Hughes is going to be top five, if not top three, player in the league this season. Last night was just the beginning.

Vanecek hit the ground running