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Powered by all-world performances from stars Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt, the New Jersey Devils picked up a convincing 7-3 victory over the Washington Capitals on Thursday night.
Let’s get into some takeaways.
The Jesper Bratt, Jack Hughes, and Connor Brown trio has had some awesome performances since being assembled but the effort we saw against the Capitals might take the cake.
Bratt and Hughes were in sync as ever, dissecting the Capitals on several occasions with clinical, sharp passing plays.
They didn’t just lead to scoring chances – they led to several goals in which Logan Thompson, who ranks 3rd in Goals Saved Above Expected, looked like a fish out of water and had absolutely no chance to make a save. That’s hard to do.
Bratt and Hughes no doubt did the heavy lifting with their passing, transition play, ability to control the offensive zone, and finishing.
But Brown chipped in with some excellent efforts of his own. He made a great play dancing around the stick check of a Capitals defender before sliding it over to Bratt, who found Hughes backdoor on the 5-2 goal.
He also made some plays that didn’t show up on the scoresheet, swatting the puck high in the defensive zone to spring Bratt on a breakaway – and getting behind the defense for one of his own.
It was all systems go for that line.