{"id":538611,"date":"2026-04-03T15:18:13","date_gmt":"2026-04-03T15:18:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/538611\/"},"modified":"2026-04-03T15:18:13","modified_gmt":"2026-04-03T15:18:13","slug":"jack-hughes-jesper-bratt-mania","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/538611\/","title":{"rendered":"Jack Hughes & Jesper Bratt Mania"},"content":{"rendered":"

DOTR Discount: Save 30% for 1 year<\/a><\/p>\n

Well, how about that for a response?<\/p>\n

After a disappointing 4-1 loss to the New York Rangers<\/a> on Tuesday evening, the New Jersey Devils rebounded with an emphatic 7-3 win over the Washington Capitals<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Capitals still had a slim chance at clinching a playoff berth, but the Devils may have ended their hopes last night. Led by 5-point games from Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt, the Capitals had no answer for the Devils\u2019 offensive attack.<\/p>\n

Cody Glass got the Devils on the board first via a great pass from Lenni H\u00e4meenaho, followed by Dawson Mercer scoring to make it 2-0. But it did not take long for the Capitals to tie the game. <\/p>\n

In fact, less than two minutes after the Devils took a 2-0 lead, the score was tied at 2-2. From there, it was Hughes and Bratt mania.<\/p>\n

Hughes has been doing this a lot lately, but he showed great puck control while shifting along the blue line to set up Dougie Hamilton for a one-timer to regain the lead.<\/p>\n

Thanks to a great stretch pass from Johnathan Kovacevic, Bratt and Hughes linked up for a great rush goal to give the Devils a 4-2 lead. Bratt faked the shot, then made an impressive cross-ice pass to Hughes. Logan Thompson had no chance of making the save.<\/p>\n

That was a pretty goal, but Hughes\u2019 second goal was one of the Devils\u2019 prettiest of the season. Connor Brown and Bratt\u2019s tic-tac-toe passing set up Hughes in front of the net, and he made a great move around Thompson to extend the lead to 5-2.<\/p>\n

Bratt and Hughes weren\u2019t done, either. Tom Wilson got one back for the Capitals, but Bratt scored on a power play soon after to essentially ice the game away. They\u2019d conclude their night by collecting the assists on Mercer\u2019s empty-netter.<\/p>\n

It was the first time a Devils skater had a five-point game since Patrik Elias<\/a> totaled five points in April 2006. <\/p>\n

Hughes and Bratt were electric last night. They were dynamite off the rush, and they consistently hemmed in the Capitals.<\/p>\n

For example, take Mercer\u2019s goal that gave the Devils a 2-0 lead. That happened because the Hughes line hemmed in the Capitals, leading the Devils to out-change them and forcing the Capitals to ice the puck. On the ensuing faceoff, the Mercer and Co. finished the job.<\/p>\n

The Devils are just a different team when Hughes and Bratt are playing at this level. It\u2019s unfortunate that Hughes wasn\u2019t healthy<\/a> until recently, but it should make you cautiously optimistic for what next season could be.<\/p>\n

H\u00e4meenaho only totaled an assist last night. Granted, it was a beautiful pass to Glass. But he could have easily had more than the lone assist.<\/p>\n

Early in the game, Hughes made a great pass to H\u00e4meenaho, who was driving toward the net. However, Thompson got a stick on the puck and sent it out of play. <\/p>\n

H\u00e4meenaho also could have scored in the third period, but he was hooked on the play. He still got a shot on net, but the ensuing power play resulted in Bratt\u2019s goal that gave the Devils a 6-3 lead.<\/p>\n

H\u00e4meenaho was even throwing the body around, as he laid a big hit on Ryan Leonard along the wall near the Capitals\u2019 bench. Leonard was caught by surprise, but it was a clean hit.<\/p>\n

The Devils finished with an expected goals share (xG%) of 66.59 percent when H\u00e4meenaho was on the ice at five-on-five. That ranked second to Glass, who was H\u00e4meenaho\u2019s linemate.<\/p>\n

With Arseny Gritsyuk done for the season<\/a>, H\u00e4meenaho will get more looks on the third line. He took advantage of it last night and should have been rewarded more than he was on the scoresheet.<\/p>\n

The Devils may have gotten the better of the Capitals, but Jake Allen faced some quality looks. A couple of his best saves came on a Capitals power play early in the second period. First, he stoned Leonard, then shifted to his right to save the rebound off Alex Ovechkin\u2019s stick.<\/p>\n

Even with the Devils extending their lead in the third period, Allen made some impressive saves on Ovechkin and Cole Hutson to prevent the Capitals from clawing back into the game.<\/p>\n

When all was said and done, Allen allowed three goals on 3.13 expected goals while making 29 saves on 32 shots. Part of the Devils\u2019 scoring more is that they\u2019re giving back some of it defensively, so their goalies are facing more quality looks. But Allen stood tall last night against a Capitals team with some firepower.<\/p>\n

Nick Bjugstad has had a so-so Devils tenure since they acquired him before the Olympic break, but he may have had his best game as a Devil against the Capitals. He was instrumental in setting up Glass\u2019 goal. Without his pass to H\u00e4meenaho, the goal never happens. He also had a grade-A shorthanded chance via a Nico Hischier setup. He\u2019s getting more opportunities as a winger on the third line with Gritsyuk out of the lineup. At least for last night, he looked the part.<\/p>\n

Hamilton has had a whirlwind of a season, but games like last night are why I see the argument for not trading him this offseason. On one hand, the $9 million they\u2019d free up on their cap sheet has value. On the other hand, he\u2019s still a valuable defenseman and is someone the Devils could use in 2026-27. They don\u2019t have a defenseman who can shoot the puck like Hamilton, as evidenced by his one-timer goal. It\u2019ll be interesting to see what the offseason brings for him, especially if there are front office changes.<\/p>\n

Advanced stats from Natural Stat Trick<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"DOTR Discount: Save 30% for 1 year Well, how about that for a response? After a disappointing 4-1…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":475381,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5109],"tags":[201,5,576,151,5185,5184,4],"class_list":{"0":"post-538611","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-jersey-devils","8":"tag-devils","9":"tag-hockey","10":"tag-new-jersey","11":"tag-new-jersey-devils","12":"tag-newjersey","13":"tag-newjerseydevils","14":"tag-nhl"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116341447429950114","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/538611","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=538611"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/538611\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/475381"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=538611"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=538611"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=538611"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}