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Hughes brothers reunite as Devils open trip to Canucks
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Hughes brothers reunite as Devils open trip to Canucks

The New Jersey Devils begin a three-game road trip to Western Canada on Wednesday night when they take on the Vancouver Canucks.

The Devils, who entered Tuesday’s game with a one-point lead in the Metropolitan Division, will also play at Calgary on Friday before finishing their trip to Edmonton on Monday.

New Jersey gained some needed momentum heading into a long road trip by defeating the Anaheim Ducks, 6-2, on Sunday in Newark, New Jersey, to snap a four-game losing streak (0- 2-2).

Stefan Noesen scored twice to highlight a four-goal second period. Jack Hughes, Paul Cotter, Nico Hischier and Erik Haula also scored while Jacob Markstrom stopped 24 of 26 shots. It was Hischier’s championship-leading ninth goal of the season.

“Yeah, it was big,” coach Sheldon Keefe said of ending the losing streak before leaving on the trip. “We’re not happy with our results in this particular building. Before we head out on what’s going to be a tough road trip for us, we wanted to make sure we scored points here and leave feeling good.”

“Obviously, when you win a hockey game on the road or at home, it feels good,” added Dawson Mercer, author of two assists. “To come away with two points here for us as a group and now have a travel day to start our road trip, it’s a really good feeling for us.”

The opening game of the trip is also eagerly awaited by one-star forward Jack and young defenseman Luke Hughes, who will face his older brother Quinn, Vancouver’s star defenseman, in the final round of the ‘Hughes Bowl’.

Quinn and Jack faced each other seven times, with New Jersey holding a 6-1-0 lead. Luke, a rookie last season, is 1-1-0 against the Canucks.

“I know they have a really good team there and I’m really excited,” Jack Hughes told NHL.com. “I think this year it’s less about the three of us…like the Hughes Bowl. I think we can go there and enjoy our time and spend some of it with Quinn and our parents.”

Vancouver is coming off a 4-3 overtime loss to Carolina on Monday, a game that saw 2024 Norris Trophy winner Quinn Hughes score his second goal of the season in a third-period comeback from a deficit of 3-1 to force OT. Pius Suter tied it at 3 with 3:05 left before Sebastian Aho scored the game-winner 47 seconds into overtime.

“I think the last 10 minutes were great, but before that…I don’t think we were ready to play,” Canucks coach Rick Tocchet said. “Carolina was. At first, a lot of guys weren’t moving their feet, weren’t winning battles. Then we decided to do those things and we made a game of it. So take the positive out of it, understand the point, but I think it’s a lesson to be learned.”

The Devils will be without Curtis Lazar (lower body injury), injured Sunday during a hip check by Anaheim’s Radko Gudas. Justin Dowling was recalled from AHL Utica on Tuesday to replace Lazar.