J. Hughes gets 3 points, Markstrom makes 39 saves for New Jersey; New York has lost 6 of 7
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NEW YORK -- Jacob Markstrom made 39 saves,
Jack Hughes and
Jesper Bratt combined for seven points, and the New Jersey Devils defeated the New York Rangers 5-1 at Madison Square Garden on Monday.
Bratt, playing his 499th NHL game, had a goal and three assists, and Hughes had two goals and an assist. Dougie Hamilton had a goal and an assist, and Luke Hughes had two assists for the Devils (17-9-2), who scored five goals for the third straight game and fourth in five.
Jack Hughes and Bratt each have points in three consecutive games; Hughes with eight points (three goals, five assists) and Bratt with seven (two goals, five assists).
Chris Kreider scored a power-play goal and Igor Shesterkin made 22 saves for the Rangers (13-10-1). New York has lost six of seven games, all in regulation.
Bratt opened the scoring by keeping the puck on a 2-on-1 with Jack Hughes and scoring five-hole on Shesterkin at 1:27 of the first period to give New Jersey a 1-0 lead.
Dawson Mercer made it 2-0 at 7:10, scoring with a far-side shot from the right face-off circle that went in off the inside of Shesterkin's right pad.
The Devils killed a penalty on Hamilton at 9:16 by blocking four shots in a 30-second span after Brett Pesce's stick broke. Pesce had two blocks and Markstrom finished it with a save on Kreider on a redirect from the left post. Bratt had a short-handed breakaway earlier in the kill.
Hamilton extended the lead to 3-0 with a 5-on-3 power-play goal at 9:04 of the second period. He scored with a one-timer from the left circle off a pass from Jack Hughes with two seconds left on the 5-on-3.
Hughes scored at 12:38, making it 4-0 with a spinning shot off a rebound of his brother Luke's shot from the left point.
Kreider's power-play goal at 13:29 made it 4-1, but Jack Hughes scored on a 4-on-3 power play at 18:56 to extend New Jersey's lead to 5-1.