new york The Madison Square Garden rookie wore a black T-shirt and black front hat as he packed up his gear in the visitors' locker room. All night Rangers fans cheered every time Jake Hughes touched the puck and after Monday's 3-1 win, the Devils star admitted he had mixed feelings.
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"It's not like I grew up wanting to be disrespectful," Hughes said. "Whatever I was, man, I was just playing."
And yet, even at 21, to understand what it means to scream like that here - in this building, in this city, on this stage. That means you're pretty good (voice), and it also means you've done enough damage to the home team to deserve that special level of sarcasm from their rabid fans.
Reggie Miller received such treatment. This is how Michael Jordan was treated. Martin Brodeur? You better believe he did it. Now add Hughes to that list.
"Do you know that I like to play in the garden? That's the Devil Rangers," Hughes said. "Great players come to the park no matter what game they play. But it's not about me. I have to take my game and help the team win. As soon as possible."
For most of the night, that taunt was the only constant sound in the building. Because the Devils tore a page out of their playbook on how to stifle their best defensive performance of the 1995-2003 seasons. And this Hughes who started the game with personal intelligence and immediately sent it down the field hole.
When the Rangers got the ball a few yards outside of the Devils' end zone, quarterback Jonas Seigenthal, unquestioned in the 4th, took it out of the corner and smacked it high onto the ice. It was then that Hughes made a dirty move that eluded defender Adam Fox and beat goalkeeper Igor Shesterkin less than three minutes into the game.
"Jack does what he does," says colleague Eric Howla. It was his third goal in four games and nearly half of the Devils' offensive streak was key to the evening's success. Hughes set the tone for everything the Devils did. He spent 23:51 on the ice, four more minutes than any other forward, and made five shots. In fact, he used his 5ft 11" to play the puck efficiently defensively.
But when did he have it? It's a prescribed philosophy.
"If you put a chip in the stick and sew it up with a needle, something good usually happens," says Seigenthaler.
"He knew he had to be the best and he did it," added head coach Lindy Ruff.
Think about it, just five days ago Seigenthaler got off to a healthy start to a shocking Game 2 loss and Ruff looked like he could coach the Devils from that game onwards. The series is now 2-2 and the Devils are back at Prudential Center and finally playing their fast-paced hockey that won them 52 games in the regular season.
Things change so quickly in the game and by the end of Monday night the little locker room in the park was buzzing with energy. 957 shot percentage in a straight game win over Shesterkin, co-owners Josh Harris and David Blitzer shared a brotherly hug as they lit up.
"The devil's game is hockey!" A man who should know, franchise great Patrick Elias yelled from the hall, leaving his message in a few unprinted words.
Elias is currently playing against a team that often beats opponents. The first two games were dominated by Rangers greats like Chris Kreider (five goals), Patrick Kane (five points) and others, but since then the Devils' best players have been able to make more of an impression. Dougie Hamilton was the winning pitcher in Game 3 for his $63 million overtime win.
And Hughes scored the first goal in Game 4.
"We've shown great resilience," said Hughes. “They recorded two in our building, so we want to come here and even the series. We've been great on the road all season. We did a great job to get back in first place.
Hughes will have a loyal following at the Rock for Game 5 on Thursday night, but he'll be back at the Garden two days later. Every time the puck hits the bat there's a roar, a final salute from fans who know they've seen a good villain.
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Steve Politi can be reached at spoliti@njadvancemedia.com .
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