Devils vs. Golden Knights: Arseny Gritsyuk and Jack Hughes Score Twice as Connor Hellebuyck Wins Again

The Vegas Golden Knights had the lead, the crowd and the momentum late in the first period on Friday. Then Arseny Gritsyuk erased all three in under a minute, Jack Hughes pulled off a neutral-zone heist on Jack Eichel early in the second, and Connor Hellebuyck spent the rest of the game making sure nobody in a gold jersey got any ideas.

The New Jersey Devils beat the Golden Knights 5-2 at T-Mobile Arena, with Gritsyuk and Jack Hughes each scoring twice and Hellebuyck stopping 19 of 21 shots for his second win since the Devils acquired him from Winnipeg on Oct. 23.

The First-Period Whiplash

Luke Hughes got the Devils on the board at 5:38 of the first, ripping a shot from the top of the left circle past Adin Hill off a feed from Anthony Mantha. It was his fifth goal of the season, which is a very nice number for a defenseman before Halloween.

Vegas responded with a quick double that had the building rocking. Mark Stone tipped in a Mitch Marner point shot on the power play at 16:27 to tie it, and a minute and a half later Ivan Barbashev tapped home a gorgeous Marner cross-crease feed for a 2-1 Golden Knights lead at 17:57. Marner had two assists in the span of a minute and a half, and for a moment it looked like the Golden Knights had flipped the game for good.

They had not. Gritsyuk pounced on a turnover and wired a wrist shot top shelf on Hill from the left circle at 18:51, less than a minute after Barbashev's goal. Tie game, momentum gone, and Vegas went to the locker room wondering how a two-goal swing had turned into nothing.

The Turning Point: Hughes Goes Full Ocean's Eleven

If there was one play that won this game, it came 3:49 into the second period. Jack Hughes picked Eichel's pocket in the neutral zone, slipped the puck through Stone's legs to himself and beat Hill with a wrist shot for a 3-2 lead. Jesper Bratt was credited with the assist, but the highlight belongs to Hughes, who made Eichel and Stone look like they were skating in sand.

From there, New Jersey controlled the tempo, and Vegas, which had scored twice in a minute and a half in the first, never found the net again. Gritsyuk made it 4-2 at 18:16 of the second, backhanding in his own rebound after Hill stopped his first attempt, with Jonas Siegenthaler picking up the assist. Hughes iced it with an empty-net backhand at 17:09 of the third.

Stars of the Night

Gritsyuk keeps quietly stacking goals. His two goals gave him eight on the season, and the AP noted he has scored in six of his last eight games, with 10 points in that stretch. He played 17:48 and finished plus-3.

Jack Hughes scored twice in 17:20 and finished plus-4, and the steal-and-score in the second was the kind of play that makes highlight editors weep with joy. It was his sixth goal of the season. Bratt finished plus-4 with his helper, and Mantha set up the opener. Luke Hughes logged 23:39 on the blue line on top of his goal, and the AP pointed out that the Devils are now 10-1-0 when the Hughes brothers score in the same game.

Hellebuyck did not have to be spectacular, and that is part of the point. He faced just 21 shots, with the Devils outshooting Vegas 32-21, and the only two that beat him came during that wild first-period stretch. The three-time Vezina Trophy winner spent his first 11 NHL seasons in Winnipeg, and he has now won both of his New Jersey starts, including a 5-1 win in Dallas on Tuesday.

For Vegas, Marner had two assists and Stone scored his ninth goal of the season. Hill made 27 saves on 31 shots and was not the problem. The skaters in front of him gave the puck away 15 times, compared with nine for the Devils, and New Jersey finished with seven takeaways to Vegas's one.

Stats That Matter

• 32-21: New Jersey's shot advantage, a clean measure of who controlled play.
• 36-13: Vegas's edge in hits. The Golden Knights won the physical battle and lost everything else.
• 7-1: Devils takeaways vs. Vegas takeaways, which tells the story of Hughes' winner.
• 10-1-0: New Jersey's record when both Hughes brothers score.
• 19: Hellebuyck's saves in his second straight win with the Devils.

What It Means

New Jersey improves to 9-5-0 with 18 points and bounces back nicely from a 5-2 loss in Colorado on Wednesday that snapped a four-game winning streak. That makes it five wins in the last six games for the Devils, who are 3-3-0 on the road. With Hellebuyck now in the crease and both Hughes brothers producing, this team looks a lot scarier than the one that started 2-3-0. New Jersey hosts Edmonton on Tuesday, which should be a fun one.

Early returns on the Hellebuyck trade could hardly be more one-sided, either. While he moved to 2-0 with New Jersey, the Jets lost 5-2 in Florida later Friday night, their fourth straight regulation loss since sending him to the Devils. Winnipeg's return was headlined by forward Dawson Mercer and included goaltender Nico Daws, according to the AP.

Vegas falls to 9-5-1 with 19 points. The Golden Knights had snapped a three-game losing streak by beating Ottawa on Tuesday, but they could not build on it, and they are now 6-3-0 at home. Next up is a trip to Boston on Monday.

Closing Take

Vegas is a city built on the idea that the house always wins. On Friday, the house had the lead with 2:03 left in the first period and still walked away empty-handed. The Devils just kept collecting chips: a turnover here, a steal there, a rebound in front. Hellebuyck held the bank. The Hughes brothers cashed out. And Gritsyuk might be the best-kept secret in hockey for about one more week.

Stats from the official box score via ESPN. Game details from the Associated Press.