Jack Hughes is on the verge of reaching a notable milestone in his young career, and the New Jersey Devils are constantly finding the back of the net lately.
Hughes’ current hot streak has the 2019 top overall pick one shy of 300 career points. Hughes will look to add to that total as the Devils attempt to earn their fourth win in a row when they oppose top overall 2024 pick Macklin Celebrini and the San Jose Sharks in Newark, N.J.
Hughes is coming off his second straight three-point showing and heads into his first encounter with Celebrini with five goals in his past six games. He scored two goals in Saturday’s 4-3 overtime over the host New York Islanders.
The Devils star scored a power-play goal in the second period and then converted a breakaway 2:35 into overtime. He also had the primary assist on the tying goal by Stefan Noesen with 50 seconds left in regulation.
“Those are the moments you play hockey for,” Devils captain Nico Hischier said. “I think it’s an emotional, tight game; I think we played a well enough game to win that game, and getting rewarded for it makes it that much better.”
The latest big showing by Hughes gave New Jersey three straight wins and five wins in its last six games (5-1-0). Since allowing 23 goals in a four-game skid (0-2-2) from Oct. 19-25, the Devils have outscored foes 24-11 in the past six games, a stretch that includes shutout road wins versus the Vancouver Canucks and Edmonton Oilers.
Dawson Mercer also scored a goal and defenseman Dougie Hamilton notched three assists on Saturday for the Devils, who allowed two goals in a span of 1:56 before overcoming a 3-1 deficit.
Celebrini will be playing in his fourth game and first on the road because of a preseason hip injury that cost him the first 12 games. The Sharks are playing better of late by going 4-2-0 in their past six contests following a season-opening nine-game skid (0-7-2). San Jose began its marginal improvement with a 5-4 overtime win at the Utah Hockey Club on Oct. 28 before getting home wins over the Los Angeles Kings and Chicago Blackhawks.
After splitting one-goal games versus Vancouver and the Columbus Blue Jackets, the 18-year-old had his first career two-goal game Thursday in a 5-2 home loss to the Minnesota Wild.
Celebrini scored twice on even strength as the Sharks were 0-for-3 on the power play and are 2-for-20 since their only game with multiple power-play goals on Oct. 24. The Sharks also head into their opener of a four-game trip against Metropolitan Division opponents after failing to record more than 29 shots on goal in their previous five contests.
“We play some great teams, so it’ll be a really good test,” Celebrini said Thursday. “We’ve shown we can beat some really good teams, and we’re a really good team ourselves when we play like it. So, this will be a great test, especially on the road.”
The Sharks may revert to their alignment from Thursday when William Eklund was dropped to the fourth line by coach Ryan Warsofsky. Eklund finished with 16 goals in his first full season in 2023-24 but has two goals in his first 14 games in 2024-25.
“We’re going to continue to work with him, help him, and get through this,” Warsofsky said.
One of San Jose’s 19 wins last season occurred on their visit to New Jersey. Eklund scored a goal in the Sharks’ 6-3 win over the Devils on Dec. 1.
