Luke Hughes Scored Twice — the Rangers' 7-1 Collapse Was Bigger Than Garand
GOATIFYA rivalry game is supposed to test a team's nerves. For the New Jersey Devils, Thursday's meeting with the New York Rangers became a demonstration of what happens when speed, pressure and confidence arrive together. New Jersey won 7-1 at Prudential Center on October 15, with Luke Hughes scoring twice in the first multi-goal game of his NHL career and the Devils turning one late first-period mistake into a wave of offense.
The score was startling because New York arrived at 6-2-0 with the league's best goal differential, plus-13. The Rangers had survived the loss of star goaltender Igor Shesterkin and found unexpected stability from Dylan Garand. By the time Arseny Gritsyuk scored 4:39 into the second period, however, Garand was headed to the bench, the Devils led 4-0 and the contest had become a test of how quickly a promising Rangers start could unravel.
The result offers two different lessons. New Jersey showed the attacking identity that its talented roster is built to sustain. New York discovered that the structure protecting an inexperienced goalie matters just as much as the goalie himself.
One Rangers turnover became a five-minute avalanche
For most of the first period, the rivalry still looked like a contest that might be decided by one detail. That detail arrived with 30 seconds remaining. Rangers captain J.T. Miller tried to move the puck across his own defensive zone, failed to connect cleanly and left Evan Rodrigues with a shooting lane. Rodrigues collected the loose puck and beat Garand at 19:30. A single giveaway had changed the scoreboard immediately before the intermission.
What happened after the break was more revealing than the opening goal. Eighteen seconds into the second period, Luke Hughes sent a wrist shot from the left circle that glanced off Adam Fox and found its way past Garand. At 4:08, Nico Hischier finished near the left post. Just 31 seconds later, Gritsyuk followed a broken-up chance and scored to make it 4-0. New Jersey had turned a narrow lead into an apparently decisive one before the Rangers had established any rhythm in the period.
The sequence mattered because the goals were not identical accidents. The first was a mistake under pressure. Hughes' first goal rewarded a defenseman willing to advance into a dangerous shooting area. Hischier's finish came from staying involved around the net rather than admiring the initial attack. Gritsyuk's goal came after New Jersey recovered the puck and continued the possession instead of allowing the play to die. The common thread was that the Devils kept making New York defend another action.
New Jersey scored four goals in a span of 5:09, the fastest four-goal burst by an NHL team to that point in the season. That is a spectacular number, but the tactical warning for opponents is simpler: when the Devils connect their forecheck to quick support through the neutral zone, one unsuccessful defensive clearance can become several dangerous chances. The Rangers' turnovers accelerated the collapse, yet New Jersey still had to execute the transitions and finish them.
For New York, the problem was collective. A defender or goalie can survive one mistake when teammates restore shape behind the puck. Here, the response to each setback left the next play exposed. That is how a game with a plausible first-period margin became a rout in the opening minutes of the second.
Garand's early exit exposed a problem bigger than goaltending
Garand's line from the night was unforgiving: four goals allowed on 13 shots, nine saves and a trip to the bench at 4:39 of the second period. Spencer Martin replaced him and made 15 saves while allowing three more goals. On paper, those figures invite an easy conclusion that the young starter was not ready. The way the chances developed suggests a more complicated explanation.
Garand was making his third consecutive start after Shesterkin sustained a season-ending lower-body injury on October 9. That assignment had arrived suddenly. A goaltender who had previously looked composed was being asked to protect a team whose ambitions had not changed simply because its established starter was unavailable. The Rangers were 6-2-0 entering Newark and had outscored their opponents by 13 goals, so the defensive structure appeared capable of supporting the transition.
But a backup's margin for error shrinks when the puck is repeatedly surrendered in dangerous areas. Miller's late first-period giveaway put Rodrigues into immediate shooting position. New Jersey's second-period attack then included a deflection, a net-front finish and a rebound opportunity. Not every one of those goals is entirely outside a goalie's control, but none can be evaluated honestly without accounting for the traffic, coverage and second chances that preceded the shot.
That distinction is important for Mike Sullivan's next decision. Pulling Garand in a lopsided game can protect a young player from a worsening score; it should not become a verdict on his ability to handle future starts. The Rangers still need a plan that limits odd-man rushes, reduces east-west giveaways and gives their goalie a realistic first save to make. A new starter cannot be expected to repair broken puck management from the crease.
The club's depth question also extends beyond one night. Veteran James Reimer signed a professional tryout with Hartford, New York's American Hockey League affiliate, on Thursday. That provides an additional option in the organization, but it does not change what the NHL group must do immediately: manage risk in front of Garand and Martin. The next response should be measured in cleaner exits and fewer uncontested looks, not just a rebound save percentage.
Hischier and the supporting cast made the rout sustainable
Luke Hughes supplied the headline with two goals, but the seven-goal total was not a one-man exhibition. Rodrigues finished with a goal and an assist. Hischier, Gritsyuk, Stefan Noesen and Cody Glass also scored. Timo Meier, Brett Pesce, Dawson Mercer, Dougie Hamilton and Amadeus Lombardi each recorded two assists, while Nico Daws stopped 18 shots for his first victory of the season. The breadth of contributions was arguably New Jersey's most encouraging signal.
Hischier's goal was his fourth of the season and the 203rd of his NHL career, moving him into third place on the Devils' franchise goals list. Milestones can sometimes distract from the flow of a game; here his finish was a useful example of the style New Jersey wanted. He stayed close to the crease, continued the play after the initial attack and turned sustained pressure into a tangible reward.
Gritsyuk's role is worth watching as closely as the captain's. The Devils have been exploring ways to combine his energy with Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt, and his second-period finish demonstrated why the arrangement can be dangerous. His movement after an initial chance kept the defense scrambling, while the playmaking around him gave New Jersey another path to the net. Jack Hughes contributed an assist and extended his point streak to five games, with eight points over that stretch.
That is the benefit of distributed offense: opponents cannot concentrate exclusively on the most famous scorer. A defense focused on Jack Hughes still has to account for a mobile defenseman joining the rush, Hischier driving the middle and a supporting forward arriving for the rebound. New Jersey's third-period goals reinforced the theme. Noesen extended the margin, and Glass completed the scoring while short-handed after Pavel Dorofeyev had ended Daws' shutout bid with a Rangers power-play goal.
There is a useful caution here, too. Seven goals in one game do not prove that every line combination is settled or that New Jersey will finish at this rate. The Devils entered the matchup at 3-3-0 and still had questions about consistency. What Thursday provided was a workable blueprint: pressure the puck, move quickly after regaining it and demand contributions from players throughout the lineup. Repeating those habits matters more than chasing another seven-goal night.
Keefe's 300th win revealed the identity New Jersey needs to keep
Sheldon Keefe reached 300 NHL coaching victories on a night when his team supplied a clear example of what its best hockey can look like. The milestone belongs to a much longer career than this single rivalry result, but the performance illustrated the kind of connected attack that makes his roster difficult to contain. New Jersey moved through the neutral zone with purpose, got pucks behind the Rangers and followed the first chance with another.
The head coach's larger challenge is not persuading anyone that the Devils have offensive talent. Luke Hughes can change the angle of an attack from the blue line; Jack Hughes can force opponents to react to his speed and creativity; Hischier can win space around the net; and several forwards can punish coverage mistakes. The harder task is making those individual qualities part of a repeatable team process rather than a collection of highlights.
That process includes defense. The Devils' best possessions began with pressure that made the Rangers uncomfortable and continued with responsible support after the puck changed hands. Daws was not forced to carry the entire game, although he still had to be ready when New York created opportunities. If New Jersey wants to build on a 4-3-0 start, the coaching staff will look for that balance against opponents who make fewer mistakes and spend more time attacking.
The schedule offers an immediate reality check. New Jersey travels to face Washington on Saturday, while New York must recover from a defeat that snapped the impression of near-total control built during its 6-2-0 opening. For Sullivan, the response is less about dramatic lineup theater than the fundamentals: puck support, spacing between defenders and forwards, and protecting the middle of the ice. For Keefe, the question is whether the Devils can preserve the same disciplined aggression when a game remains tight.
Neither team should let one October result define its season. But this one exposed a sharp contrast. New Jersey looked like a roster whose different parts were finally reinforcing one another. New York looked like a group whose system could collapse once the first error went uncorrected. That difference, rather than the six-goal margin itself, is what both coaching staffs will study.
The Devils' 7-1 win will be remembered for Luke Hughes' first two-goal NHL game, Garand's early exit and Keefe's 300th victory. Its lasting significance may lie in the sequence between those milestones. New Jersey turned one Rangers giveaway into sustained pressure, supported its most dangerous players with contributions throughout the lineup and kept attacking after the result was effectively decided.
For the Rangers, the lesson is not to abandon a young goalie after one difficult start. It is to restore the defensive habits that helped the club build its opening record, especially while Shesterkin is unavailable. For New Jersey, the standard is now visible. The next step is to reproduce it without needing an opponent to unravel first.
