Hughes, Bratt Orchestrate Devils' Dominant 4-1 Win Over Anaheim
New Jersey never trailed, building a two-goal cushion before the first period was even over and coasting to a 4-1 final over Anaheim. Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt combined for four points between them, and Nico Daws barely had to break a sweat — 16 saves on 17 shots tells the whole story.
The Devils wasted no time setting the tone. At 4:38 of the first, Arseny Gritsyuk redirected a tip-in past Ville Husso to put New Jersey up 1-0 — the play that shifted the game's margin from even to New Jersey's favor and, as it turned out, the moment the Devils never looked back. Bratt and Hughes drew the assists, a preview of how dangerous that combination would be all night. Then, with just 41 seconds left in the period, Nico Hischier added a second tip-in of his own — assisted by Luke Evangelista and Bratt again — to send New Jersey into the first intermission up 2-0. Two periods of hockey left, and Anaheim was already chasing.
The Ducks showed some life in the third. Tim Washe converted a tip-in of his own at 8:20 — assisted by Jackson LaCombe and Sam Colangelo — to cut the deficit to 2-1 and, at least briefly, make things interesting. Husso had been solid all night, finishing with 25 saves on 28 shots, and the Ducks appeared to have some momentum. But New Jersey answered quickly. Anthony Mantha buried a wrist shot at 13:27, assisted by Brett Pesce, to push it back to 3-1 and effectively end any suspense. Then, with seven seconds left on the clock, Hughes put an exclamation point on it — a backhand goal, unassisted, to make it 4-1 final.
The story of the night was New Jersey's efficiency. Daws faced just 17 shots and allowed one goal — a performance that looks less like goaltending heroics and more like a team that simply refused to give Anaheim clean looks. Hughes finished with a goal and an assist, Bratt with two assists, and the Devils' top end looked every bit as dangerous as advertised. Husso, for his part, kept Anaheim from being completely embarrassed — 25 saves is a respectable night's work — but the Ducks generated only 17 shots against Daws, which appears to be the real problem. When your goalie is outworking your skaters by that margin, the scoreboard tends to reflect it.