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Recap: Devils Pop the Caps Off of Washington in First Back-to-Back of the Season with a 5-1 Victory

Date: November 27, 2022

By: Michael Federico

Jack Hughes had a career night, earning his first hat trick in a win over Washington.

Andrew Mordzynski/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

The New Jersey Devils took down the Washington Capitals 5-1 on Saturday night the day after defeating the Buffalo Sabers, 3-1. This was the first time the Devils played back-to-back games this season. New Jersey improves to 18-4 on the season, whereas Washington falls to 9-11-3.

The previous matchup between the Devils and the Capitals was a Devils loss 6-3 that came back on Oct. 24. New Jersey’s next loss came a month after that on Nov. 23 in a 2-1 loss against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Entering last night’s game, The Capitals were 11-0-1 in their past 12 games against the Devils, which was the longest-active point streak by the Capitals against an opponent. Despite that lopsided record, New Jersey has a neat record of their own.

The Devils are 16-0-0 when Nico Hischier records a goal, and 8-0 when Jack Hughes records a goal. Both Hischier and Hughes were goal scorers last night.

The captain Nico Hischier scored his 10th goal of the season on a powerplay. Hischier’s goal was assisted by Dawson Mercer and Dougie Hamilton, his 10th assist of the season. Hamilton has 16 points in 22 games so far.

The star of the game was Jack Hughes, who tallied goal number nine, 10, and 11 of the season. A hat trick for the former number one overall pick now puts him at four goals in his last two games.

Hughes’s first goal was unassisted, and his second of the night was assisted by Ryan Graves and Dawson Mercer. The goal that made the fans toss their favorite hat on the ice was assisted by Eric Haula.

That was Jack Hughes’s first hat trick of his young NHL career. Hughes now has 25 points in 22 games played this season.

The fifth Devils’ goal of the night came from Fabian Zetterlund, his fourth of the season.

Another Devil that shined was none other than the goaltender, Vitek Vanecek. This was Vanecek’s first career start against his former team after being traded in July. 38 shots faced, 37 shots saved for the net minder from the Czech Republic.

The lone Washington goal came from John Carlson. Vitek Vanecek now improves his record to 10-2 on the season.

The three stars of the game were Jack Hughes receiving the first star, Vitek Vanecek receiving the second star, and Dawson Mercer receiving the third star.

The New Jersey Devils next game is on Monday, Nov. 28 where they travel up to New York City to face off against the New York Rangers, who have a record of 10-8-4 this season. The two will play on the ice of Madison Square Garden and is the first matchup of four this season that the two rivals face off.

Michael Federico is an Assistant Sports Director at WSOU and can be reached at michael.federico@student.shu.edu.

Posted in: Sports, NHL, New Jersey Devils

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