There’s a lot of frustration surrounding the New Jersey Devils this season, and that frustration was eventually going to boil over. It sounds like a bad play in the first period finally caused a break with the team’s star player in the Devils’ 4-3 overtime loss to the Washington Capitals.

The Devils played a really good first period, taking 15 shots on Logan Thompson and putting up decent chances across the board. Then, disaster struck. With time ticking down, a careless pass by Jonas Siegenthaler and Dougie Hamilton allowed it to go around the boards right to the stick of Alexander Ovechkin. He threw the puck in front and found Aliaksei Protas all alone, where he got the puck in the net with .4 seconds left in the period.

Good things tend to happen when Pro is left all alone in front of the net pic.twitter.com/X0X9aIMnlM

— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) December 28, 2025

It was heartbreaking, back-breaking, and soul-crushing all wrapped into one awful bow. It was a bad process mixed with a misunderstanding of the situation and time left on the clock. If either Siegenthaler or Hamilton just stopped the puck and held, the Devils and Capitals would go into the break tied 0-0.

However, maybe this was exactly what the Devils needed. Maybe this was the wake-up call they were looking for. And maybe, Jack Hughes was the guy who needed to deliver the message.

The Devils had two lackluster performances since Hughes returned from injury last Sunday. They scored one goal in both games, and they rode terrible second periods to regulation losses. Those losses knocked them out of a playoff spot going into the Christmas break. Coming out of a few days off, it looked like it was going to be more of the same.

After the game, the players and head coach Sheldon Keefe commented on Hughes’s intermission tirade. They said it was just what the team needed to hear.

“We had a good talk in here. Jack (Hughes) kind of gave us a pick me up there… Just a kick in the (butt). “

Cody Glass, Devils forward

“That’s some of the best responses we’ve had this year is when those type of situations, when the players start to really leading, taking charge, that’s when you know you really have something. “

Sheldon Keefe, Devils head coach

Keefe went on to say he thought the second period was a much better play by his team, so he assumed that conversation happened in the first intermission (which he was correct). The Devils have not had a second period that looked like that in more than a month.

Hughes just returned after six weeks on the shelf. He missed time after a freak injury at a team dinner, and it was unfortunately the injury that broke the team’s back. They were awful with him out of the lineup.

With him back, their process has been a lot better, but they haven’t won. Still, you’d rather a better process than not. The wins will come, and there’s leadership back on this team. It’s great to see someone like Jack Hughes take this team and put a fire under their (butts).