{"id":538539,"date":"2026-04-03T14:26:19","date_gmt":"2026-04-03T14:26:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/538539\/"},"modified":"2026-04-03T14:26:19","modified_gmt":"2026-04-03T14:26:19","slug":"hughes-bratt-steal-the-show","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/538539\/","title":{"rendered":"Hughes, Bratt steal the show"},"content":{"rendered":"

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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.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s get into some takeaways.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Bratt and Hughes were in sync as ever, dissecting the Capitals on several occasions with clinical, sharp passing plays.<\/p>\n

They didn\u2019t just lead to scoring chances \u2013 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\u2019s hard to do.<\/p>\n

Bratt and Hughes no doubt did the heavy lifting with their passing, transition play, ability to control the offensive zone, and finishing.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

He also made some plays that didn\u2019t show up on the scoresheet, swatting the puck high in the defensive zone to spring Bratt on a breakaway \u2013 and getting behind the defense for one of his own.<\/p>\n

It was all systems go for that line.<\/p>\n