Watch: Hughes brothers combine for overtime winner in Devils' season finale
The 2022-23 campaign has already been one to remember for the New Jersey Devils. However, Thursday's season finale ended in storybook fashion.
In the Devils' final game before the Stanley Cup Playoffs, brothers Jack and Luke Hughes combined for the game-winner in a 5-4 overtime win over the Washington Capitals.
Jack, the Devils' leader in points this season (99), set up his younger brother for his first goal in only the second game of his young NHL career. Entering the zone with the game tied 4-4, Luke had his first attempt on net denied but grabbed his own rebound, scoring on a wrap-around 4:33 into the extra session.
Selected fourth overall in the 2021 NHL Draft by the Devils, Luke made his pro debut on Tuesday, going pointless against the Buffalo Sabres. However, on Thursday, he tallied two points, having assisted on a first-period goal by Erik Haula earlier in the night.
"I'm so pumped for him. He's worked so hard to get here," Jack Hughes said via the MSG Network. "I'm so excited for him, for my parents. It shows how hard they've worked."
Jack has already established himself as the face of the Devils' franchise. The first overall pick in the 2019 NHL Draft, he led the team with 99 points, setting a new Devils' single-season record.
Luke is the third brother to reach the NHL, joining Jack with the Devils and oldest sibling, Quinn Hughes, a defenseman for the Vancouver Canucks. While he may be the youngest of the trio, he holds bragging rights over his two older brothers, having scored his first professional goal six games faster than each of his brothers, per NHL.com's Mike Morreale.
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