The New Jersey Devils opened their four-game road trip with a 2-1 overtime win over Calgary on Monday.
New Jersey coach Sheldon Keefe, however, wasn’t in a celebratory mood afterward.
That’s because the Devils, who will play at Edmonton on Tuesday night, will be without star defenseman Luke Hughes for at least the remainder of the trek, which will end with stops at Vancouver and Seattle.
Hughes, who leads the club’s defensemen in scoring with 26 points and the team in average time on ice at 23:03, left Monday’s game in the second period, hunched over with a shoulder injury. He was getting his jersey tugged by Calgary forward Justin Kirkland while pursuing a puck in the Flames’ defensive zone.
The 22-year-old Hughes, the No. 4 overall pick of the 2021 NHL Draft, pulled up grimacing in pain and immediately skated to the bench.
He had shoulder surgery at the end of the 2024-25 season.
“He’s going to have to get evaluated, but he’s going to have to miss time for sure,” Keefe said of Hughes, who signed a seven-year, $63 million contract with the Devils on Oct. 1. “We won’t see him on the rest of the road trip, and we will get him evaluated and determine the length of time from there.”
Defenseman Simon Nemec scored at 1:18 of overtime to give New Jersey its third win in four games. Jesper Bratt set up the goal with a kick pass from the right corner boards to Jack Hughes, who quickly backhanded a pass to Nemec in front of the goal. Nemec then calmly chipped the puck past goalie Devin Cooley.
“With these guys on the ice, you just try and find a spot for a pass,” Nemec said. “I think they did a great job. They found me net-front, and I just finished.”
“Call it a goal-scorer’s goal,” Keefe said. “A lot of guys might have just smashed that into the goaltender. Great poise under pressure. Big goal, and very well played by him for sure.”
New Jersey improved to 9-2 in overtime games, with Nemec leading the way with three game-winners.
“He’s scored some great clutch goals for us, and he was in the right spot again,” Keefe said.
Edmonton could pull even with the Pacific Division-leading Vegas Golden Knights in points with a regulation win on Tuesday. The Oilers, who are 12-6-4 at home and bring a two-game winning streak into the contest, will be without center Leon Draisaitl for the third straight game.
Draisaitl, second on the team in scoring with 67 points and 25 goals, is taking a leave of absence to tend to a family member’s illness in Germany.
In his stead, Edmonton has shutout wins at Vancouver (6-0 score) on Saturday and vs. St. Louis (5-0) on Sunday.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, playing in his 1,000th NHL game, scored what proved to be the game-winning goal on the power play against the Blues.
Zach Hyman collected two goals and an assist, and Connor Ingram made 27 saves.
“It was obviously fun to do that on a night like tonight,” said Nugent-Hopkins, who received a silver stick and several other gifts during a pregame ceremony.
“It’s hard to put in words right now, but it was a fun night, and I thought the guys played great, and (Ingram) played outstanding.”
Oilers captain Connor McDavid added two assists and heads into Tuesday’s action tied with Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon for the NHL points lead with 85.
–Field Level Media
