Overview
- New Jersey plays Washington on Saturday at 7 p.m. EST in the teams’ first meeting of the season in D.C.
- The Devils announced Jack Hughes is out with a non-hockey hand injury, and Sportsnet reported it stemmed from a fluke accident at a team dinner.
- Simon Nemec capped a hat trick with the overtime winner in a 4-3 victory over the Blackhawks, becoming the franchise’s first defenseman since 1984 to net three in a game.
- New Jersey is 12-4-1 and leads the Eastern Conference with 25 points, with Hughes pacing the team at 10 goals and 20 points before his absence.
- Washington has dropped seven of its past nine games and is coming off a 6-3 loss to Florida.