Devils offense arrives in Game Three!

  The New Jersey Devils offense finally arrived for their series against the Carolina Hurricanes and it arrived with a vengeance as the Devils scored eight goals in their return to home ice and cut the Hurricanes' series lead to two games to one with an 8-4 triumph.

Jack Hughes led the New Jersey attack with two goals and two assists on the afternoon.

The remaining New Jersey goals are to:

Timo Meier, Michael McLeod (shorthanded), Nico Hischier, Myles Wood, Damon Severson, and Ondrej Palat (Power Play).

Game four will be in Newark on Tuesday night.

Hell Raisers

1)  Jack Hughes was inspired in his performance with two goals, two assists, and his first-ever fight in the NHL as Hughes tackled Sebastian Aho and tossed a few punches his way.

This was the type of game that Devils fans have hoped Hughes would provide once he gained the needed experience and poise and his play this season showed he is on his way.

Stepping up as he did today means he could be closer than we thought to superstar status.

2) The Devils activated Luke Hughes to play in game three and Hughes assisted on two goals, one of which belonged to brother Jack.

The Athletic did a mock redraft of Luke Hughes's draft class last October and Hughes, who was drafted by the Devils with the fourth pick in 2021, was selected first overall.

Defensemen with the skills and skating of Luke Hughes are far from common and the Devils were fortunate to have him fall in their lap.

I'll even be able to forgive the school that he attended with this level of play!

3) The Devils started Vitek Vanicek in the net for the first time since game two of the series against the Rangers.

Vanicek finished with twenty-six saves, received an assist on the goal scored by Miles Wood, and allowed a penalty shot goal against Carolina's Jordan Martinook.

4) Still, Vanicek allowed four goals which usually won't win many games and while some of those goals came during garbage time with both teams flying around and with plenty of what I'd call loose defense, I still wouldn't say I would go as far as saying I'm comfortable with the net situation at the moment.

5) This has become quite a gritty series between two teams known for their skating and offense.

Several skirmishes in this one and Erik Haula slugged it out with former Devil Stefan Noesen.

I didn't expect this much hostility between the two but it is clearly there and I'm guessing that something aggressive is going to decide one of these remaining games.

6) The Devils dominated this game even more than the 8-4 score, which was deceiving for the reasons above and that's why they should feel good about the win, which was as close to a must-win as there can be short of an elimination game.

Still, they cannot take too much away from this win, and game four is equally important.

Returning to Raleigh tied at two is almost a certainty for the Devils to win this series and they need another big effort on Tuesday to accomplish tying the series at two.

Devils select Luke Hughes and Chase Stillman

   While I was away for the weekend dealing with a family event, the NHL Draft was held on Friday night with some fun afterward.

I pay far more attention to the NBA Draft coming up Thursday night because I know far more about the average prospect in that sport, but I always follow the first-round selection of the New Jersey Devils, and this draft, New Jersey would have their own pick at number four and the New York Islanders selection at twenty-nine in the opening stage.

The Devils selection of Luke Hughes with their pick at number four was the pick that most Devils fans had hoped for and for more than the sentimental storyline of playing with his brother Jack, the Devils top pick in 2019.

While Luke Hughes isn't projected to be the same level of player as his oldest brother, Quinn of the Vancouver Canucks, Luke was a solid member of the top few prospects in this class and wasn't thought of to be a reach at all and was generally regarded as the second-best defenseman of the draft behind his possible future teammate at Michigan, Owen Power, whom Buffalo selected first overall.

Hughes is an excellent skater, knows how to move the puck well in the end-to-end game, and is expected to develop his shot to have a chance to be a strong offensive-style defenseman, which of than Ty Smith, the Devils currently lack on the top squad and their farm system.

Hughes spent last season with the United States developmental team and has begun to skate again after injuring his foot in March.

Hughes is committed to Michigan and is likely to play at least one if not two seasons in Ann Arbor before entering the Devils system, if not the parent team.

Luke Hughes fits a glaring hole in the Devils organization and was drafted around the area that he was rated in don't be distracted by the nice storyline of two brothers eventually playing for the same team- He was the right selection.

Most Devils observers were not so thrilled with the selection of right-wing Chase Stillman, who was rated by almost all to be a second or third-round-level prospect.

The son of NHL veteran Cory Stillman, Stillman has been listed as a rugged around-the-net type with good hands and aggressiveness, but from what I have read seems to have many holes in his game and there were many higher-rated players on the board.

Tom Fitzgerald seems to like the rugged tough-guy types, and I can understand that to a degree- I like those types of players as well, but the game is changing rapidly from year to year and when any game begins to change, there are playing styles that become obsolete.

I'm not going to claim that I know much about Stillman or the prospects that he was selected over, but I do have to say that I have concerns about the selection after reading several opinions that I respect.

Thanks to John Fischer and the staff at All About The Jersey for their draft work that I used for much of the detail of this short recap.

While I used several sources before the draft on Luke Hughes as he was widely considered as a top possibility for the Devils, I knew next to nothing about Chase Stillman, and kudos to the staff there for the information.