Jack Hughes has hat trick, assist for Devils, who top Rangers for 4th win in row

NEWARK, N.J. -- Jack Hughes had a hat trick and an assist for the New Jersey Devils in a 6-3 win against the New York Rangers at Prudential Center on Saturday.

Jesper Bratt had a goal and two assists, and Connor Brown and Johnathan Kovacevic each had two assists for New Jersey (32-29-2), which has won four straight games. Jacob Markstrom made 17 saves in his fifth consecutive start. 

Hughes, who scored the overtime winner for Team USA in the gold medal game against Team Canada at the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 last month, has 32 points (19 goals, 13 assists) in 24 career games against the Rangers.

"When you look at the schedule, you're looking for the Rangers games," Hughes said. "Devils and Rangers. ... Great rivalry, great fan bases. It's fun to go into [Madison Square Garden] and it's fun here when there's a lot of Rangers fans and a lot of red too, Devils fans. I enjoy playing these games. It's a game you circle on the calendar and you want to be a part of."

The Devils were 3-for-3 on the power play and 4-for-4 on the penalty kill.

“They gained a ton of momentum on their penalty kill and their power play," said New York coach Mike Sullivan, who also was the Team USA coach. "A big part of this game is momentum, and we didn’t get any juice from our special teams today.” 

Will Borgen, Vladislav Gavrikov and Will Cuylle scored for New York (24-30-8), which was 2-0-2 in its previous four games. Jonathan Quick made 29 saves.

“I think the world of Jack," Sullivan said. "He’s a really good player, he’s a great person. But when we play him, we want to beat him. He’s a dangerous guy in particular on power plays, and we just gave him too many looks."

Nico Hischier scored a power-play goal on a rebound in the slot to give the Devils a 4-3 lead at 8:05 of the third period.

"Sometimes they go in, sometimes they don't, but I think what the difference on the power play is we're making more right decisions," said Hischier, the New Jersey captain. "Obviously when you make more right decisions on the power play, you give yourself more chances to score goals and that's the biggest difference."

Hughes took a lead pass from Brown and scored on a breakaway for a 5-3 lead at 16:56 before scoring an empty-net goal at 19:28 for the 6-3 final.

"[The reason for our success of late is] we're healthy," Hughes said. "We haven't been healthy since November, so we're finally healthy. I think guys are confident and when the group starts to roll, everyone's feeling good about their game, the group's feeling better about themselves. I think we're in a good groove right now but it's all about just being present, staying in the moment and keeping at it."

Bratt gave the Devils a 1-0 lead at 1:06 of the first period, scoring on a one-timer from the low in the right face-off circle off a cross-ice pass by Cody Glass.

Quick denied Timo Meier on a similar shot at 5:29 before Borgen pulled the Rangers into a 1-1 tie 57 seconds later, scoring with a wrist shot from the top of the left circle at 6:26.

The Rangers took their first lead at 2-1 when Gavrikov scored on a slap shot from above the left circle that went inside the right post at 8:36.

Dawson Mercer tied it 2-2 with a deflection on the power play at 19:47. Luke Hughes took the initial shot pass from the point.

Jack Hughes gave New Jersey a 3-2 lead on the man-advantage at 15:52 of the second period, converting on a slap shot from the point. After the goal, Hughes pounded the Devils logo on his chest to the delight of the home fans.

"It was a great crowd tonight. ... I think our fans brought the energy," Hughes said. "It's easy in a game like that. There's a lot of Rangers fans, too. I think our fans did a great job of being energized and giving us a boost, and that was kind of a little nod to them for bringing the heat tonight."

Cuylle made it 3-3 just 1:01 later, scoring at 16:53 with a tip of Braden Schneider’s slap shot from the point.

The Devils are nine points behind the Boston Bruins for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference with 19 games remaining.

"We're playing well and you never know. ... We've seen it before," Hischier said. "It's all that matters for me and for us. We were a group that still believes. We also know we're a group that can play very good hockey and that's what we're trying to do."

NOTES: Hughes is the first Devils player to score a regular-season hat trick against the Rangers since Scott Gomez on Dec. 26, 1999. ... Hughes has four hat tricks in his NHL career. He is tied with Wilf Paiement and Kirk Muller for the fourth most in Devils/Colorado Rockies/Kansas City Scouts history. ... Luke Hughes got his 100 NHL assist. He required the fourth-fewest games by a defenseman (208) to reach the milestone with the franchise, behind Scott Stevens (176), Dougie Hamilton (192) and Brian Rafalski (204). ... Cuylle has three goals in the past two games. ... Gavrikov scored for a third straight game (three goals).