While Jack Hughes put on a show in the New Jersey Devils' 5-2 win over the Golden Knights, Luke Hughes continued his goal-scoring odyssey.
Hughes opened the scoring on Friday night when the Golden Knights turned the puck over, and it landed on Anthony Mantha's stick behind the Vegas net. Mantha took the puck out toward the left circle, where Hughes was waiting. Mantha dished the puck to Hughes, who launched it past goaltender Adin Hill.
It was all Devils from there, with two goals from Luke's older brother, Jack Hughes, and New Jersey won easily. For Luke, it was his fifth goal of the season, putting him well on pace to match his 2025-26 total and smash his career-best of nine goals scored in 2023-24.
Last season, Luke's six goals came in a 68-game stretch. This season, Luke's 84-game pace, at the moment, is 30 goals.
That would surely put him in Norris contention if he neared that milestone. Luke is also averaging a half-point per game, which puts him on pace for 42 points this season. If he reached it, Luke would hit at least 40 points for the third time in his career.
Only Arseny Gritsyuk (8 goals), Nico Hischier (7), and Jack Hughes (6) have scored more than Luke. Luke is the only Devils defenseman this season to have scored more than one goal, and he paces the rotation in points.
If Luke finds a way to increase his total number of assists, even if he doesn't maintain his current goal-scoring pace, he will be in for a true breakout season after showing flashes since his first full-time NHL campaign in 2023-24.
What is more impressive about Luke Hughes? He has grown into arguably the Devils' top all-around defenseman. He leads all Devils skaters with 23:57 of average total ice time, and he has an eye-popping 11 takeaways. His takeaways are a strong indicator that Hughes has been making plays all over the ice.
Finally, his 58.1 Corsi For Percentage is the second-best on the team among defensemen, behind only Brett Pesce. That number is nearly five percent higher than his 53.3 offensive zone starting percentage.
Heading into the season, the Devils looked like a goaltender and one elite defenseman away from giving opponents headaches all season. They solved their goaltending issues when Connor Hellebuyck came to town via a blockbuster trade with the Winnipeg Jets .
Luke Hughes being a scoring threat and a playmaker would force opponents to account for him near the blue line more than they already have. They must also account for the number of forwards like Jack Hughes who have a proven track record of making plays. Then there is Hellebuyck, who has been as advertised early on in his tenure with the Devils.
Luke and Co. will get another chance to keep up their high-octane ways when they face another one of the NHL's highest-scoring teams, the Edmonton Oilers , on Nov. 3. Luke will get a chance to tie his goal total from last season.
This article was originally published on HEAVY
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