Jack Hughes scored twice and Arseny Gritsyuk decided the shootout in New Jersey’s 4-3 victory over Edmonton
NEWARK, N.J. — SPORTS – Arseny Gritsyuk scored the deciding shootout goal Tuesday as the New Jersey Devils defeated the Edmonton Oilers 4-3, ending Edmonton’s seven-game road winning streak.
Jack Hughes recorded two goals and an assist for New Jersey. Connor Hellebuyck stopped 18 shots and won his home debut for the Devils, who improved to 10-5-0 with their sixth victory in seven games.
Edmonton still earned a point after coming back from a 3-1 deficit. The Oilers moved to 11-2-3 and extended their overall point streak to five games.
Evan Bouchard opened the scoring at 8:29 of the first period. New Jersey answered with three second-period goals, including two from Hughes in a 45-second span.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins pulled Edmonton within one on a late second-period power play. Leon Draisaitl then tied the game during a two-man advantage one minute into the third.
Connor McDavid assisted on Draisaitl’s goal, extending his season-opening point and assist streak to 16 games. The assist gave McDavid 40 points this season, including a league-leading 31 assists.
McDavid became only the fourth player in NHL history to reach 40 points within his first 16 games of a season. Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux and Joe Malone are the others.
The Devils limited McDavid to one shot in more than 24 minutes of ice time, with captain Nico Hischier’s line drawing much of the defensive assignment.
Jesper Bratt and Gritsyuk scored for New Jersey in the shootout. McDavid supplied Edmonton’s only shootout goal before Hellebuyck stopped Kasperi Kapanen in the fourth round.
Nugent-Hopkins also played his 1,038th game for Edmonton, moving into sole possession of the franchise record.
The defeat was Edmonton’s first road loss of any kind this season, leaving the club with a 7-0-1 away record. More importantly, the Oilers showed they could recover from a poor second period and secure a point against one of the league’s hottest teams.
