G56 New Jersey Devils vs. New York Rangers: The Jack Hughes show

The Devils' superstar center has become a Rangers killer, scoring in five of his last six regular season games while generating insane shot volume.

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A few notes to get you set for an always exciting rivalry clash between New Jersey and New York:

Watch out for 86

Anyone who has followed the Devils for any amount of time knows Jack Hughes is a big game player. He loves rivalry games, he loves big moments, and he loves being the guy the team relies on in them.

Hughes has quickly turned into a Rangers killer, coming up big seemingly every time the two square off.

Jack Hughes has piled up 10 points over his last six regular season games against the Rangers. He found the scoresheet at least once in all of them and scored in five of the six.

The shot volume we’ve seen is astronomically high. Hughes has registered at least seven shots on goal in four of the last five vs. New York, piling up 36 shots in aggregate.

We have seen insane volume from Jack since returning from injury – he has piled up 63 attempts, 42 shots, and 30 chances over just seven games – and there’s every reason to expect more of the same against the Rangers tonight.

Win or lose, I’m expecting a very noticeable (and productive) offensive performance from Hughes in this one.

Keep things 5v5

The Devils need to avoid a special teams battle against the Rangers for a couple reasons.

For one, the Devils are an absolute disaster on the power play right now. They simply can’t put the puck in the net even when they do the right things.

It legitimately feels as if they’re as likely to give up a goal as score one, which is never a good thing.

Going power play for power play with the Rangers is not a great idea at the best of times and especially not now.

The more important reason, though, is that the Rangers are very beatable at 5v5. They are +1 with a sub 50 xGF% at 5v5 over the course of the entire season.

That’s right; the team tied for 1st in wins this season has outscored opponents by a single goal at full strength over the course of 56 games. Impressive stuff.

New York is clearly nothing special at 5v5. They have been very mid all year long and things are only getting worse. The Devils can exploit them.

Since Jack Hughes returned to the lineup, the Devils have controlled 54.69% of the expected goal share at 5v5. That’s an elite mark.

The Rangers have controlled just 45% of the expected goals share over the same period of time, putting them in company with teams like the Coyotes and Sabres.

If the Devils can keep their emotions in check and avoid bad penalties, they should have a very strong chance of winning this game – especially if Artemi Panarin is not able to play (or is at least than 100%).

Crash and bang