Devils vs. Rangers: Luke Hughes Scores Twice as Four Goals in 5:09 Fuel a 7-1 Rout

The New York Rangers walked into Prudential Center with the NHL's best goal differential and a minor-league call-up in net who had won both of his starts. One stretch of five minutes and nine seconds wiped out both storylines. J.T. Miller whiffed on a cross-ice pass, Evan Rodrigues scored at 19:30 of the first period, and the New Jersey Devils proceeded to score three more times in the first 4:39 of the second.

By the time the dust settled, the Devils had a 7-1 win over the Rangers on Thursday night in the first meeting of the season between the Hudson River rivals. Luke Hughes scored twice for the first multigoal game of his NHL career, Nico Daws made 18 saves for his first win of the season, and Sheldon Keefe picked up the 300th coaching victory of his NHL career.

Five Minutes That Broke the Rangers

Before the avalanche, this was a tight, physical game. Will Cuylle and Johnathan Kovacevic fought 7:25 into the first, and Miller, by the AP's account, was terrific on a 5-on-3 penalty kill. Then came the mistake at the worst possible time. "(Miller) just whiffed on one trying to go across the ice, and I was happy to step into it and obviously put it in the net," Rodrigues said.

Out of the intermission, the Rangers fell apart in a hurry. After a Vladislav Gavrikov giveaway, per the AP, Hughes let one go from the left circle just 18 seconds into the period, and it caromed off Adam Fox and past Dylan Garand. At 4:08, Garand mishandled the puck and Devils captain Nico Hischier jammed it in from the left post. Rangers coach Mike Sullivan burned his timeout, and on the very next shift, Arseny Gritsyuk pounced on a rebound and fired it home from the right circle at 4:39.

Per NHL.com, the four goals in 5:09 were the fastest four-goal burst by any team this season. That was also the end of Garand's night after four goals on 13 shots. Spencer Martin took over.

"We put pucks behind their defense and made their life hard," Hischier said. "We forechecked hard and, with our speed, that's where we got to build our game."

Hughes' 18-Second Haymaker

If Rodrigues cracked the door open, Hughes kicked it in. A one-goal deficit at intermission is manageable. A two-goal hole 18 seconds into the second period, on a deflection off one of your own defensemen, is the kind of thing that rattles a goalie and a bench at the same time. The Rangers never looked settled again.

Hughes scored again at 16:34, beating Martin from outside the right post after selling a drop pass. "I've been dropping to Pesce a lot and I kind of sold that and he kind of bit and I just turned a corner and was in," Hughes said. Per NHL.com, he is the third Devils defenseman in the past 10 years with a multigoal period, joining Dougie Hamilton and Damon Severson.

Stefan Noesen made it 6-0 at 7:01 of the third. Pavel Dorofeyev tipped in a power-play goal at 8:02 to spoil Daws' shutout bid, and Cody Glass answered with a short-handed goal at 14:54 to complete the 7-1 final. Alexis Lafreniere was hit with a misconduct at the same moment.

Spreading the Wealth

This was a full-roster beatdown. Five Devils had two assists each: Timo Meier, Brett Pesce, Amadeus Lombardi, Dawson Mercer and Hamilton. Rodrigues had a goal and an assist, and Jack Hughes added an assist to stretch his point streak to five games, per NHL.com.

Luke Hughes played 24:58 and finished plus-3. "He's been really good and I think that's all season," Keefe said. "As I keep mentioning, there's just so much more that he can continue to improve upon, both offensively and certainly defensively."

Daws, meanwhile, was perfect until the third period and finished with 18 saves on 19 shots. Keefe was not exactly spiking footballs over his milestone. "It's a cool milestone, but it doesn't mean a lot," he said. "Honestly, I'm just focused on getting a win."

For the Rangers, the bright spots were few. Garand had won his first two starts after Igor Shesterkin suffered a season-ending lower-body injury on Oct. 9, per the AP and NHL.com, and this was a rough night for a goalie who got very little help. "They're getting odd-man rushes, getting chances," Fox said. "You're pushing, and they're going to capitalize, so just one of those forgettable games."

The Damage Report

• 4: Devils goals in a span of 5:09, the fastest such stretch by any team this season, per NHL.com.
• 31-19: New Jersey's edge in shots on goal.
• 5: Devils players with two assists.
• 4 on 13: Goals allowed and shots faced by Garand before he was pulled.
• 300: NHL coaching wins for Keefe.

Bragging Rights Cross the River

New Jersey moves to 4-3-0 with eight points and has won two straight, following Tuesday's 5-4 overtime win at Detroit. Rodrigues, acquired from Florida on June 30, now has goals in both of those games. "I think we played more to our identity, focusing on the defensive side of the puck and not cheating," Rodrigues said. The Devils visit Washington on Saturday.

The Rangers fall to 6-3-0 with 12 points and are just 1-3-0 on the road. Per NHL.com, they entered the night leading the league at plus-13 in goal differential, so this one hurt the spreadsheet as much as the pride. Sullivan did not sugarcoat it. "We just lost ourselves," he said. "We didn't play the game that we'd been playing for most of this year that's brought us success." New York visits Columbus on Saturday night.

Fire Drill in Newark

Rivalry games are supposed to be tight, nasty and decided late. This one was decided in the time it takes to microwave a burrito. The Rangers had spent their first eight games looking like one of the most buttoned-up teams in hockey. For five chaotic minutes in Newark, they looked like a team running a fire drill without a map.

Stats from the official box score via ESPN. Game details from the Associated Press; postgame quotes and notes as reported by NHL.com.