Jack Hughes didn’t need much help making headlines to open the season. He scored the overtime winner in the New Jersey Devils’ 3-2 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers on ESPN Thursday night, and his younger brother Luke Hughes also found the net for New Jersey.
But the moment that really got people talking came between periods, when Hughes stopped for an in-game interview with ESPN’s A.J. Mleczko.
Mleczko tried to turn last season’s bizarre finger injury into a light joke, referencing the cut Hughes suffered at a team dinner that required surgery and cost him 18 games. She said, “Well, it’s great to see you healthy,” followed by, “Let’s wrap you in bubble wrap and use plastic cutlery this year. Does that sound good?”
Hughes clearly wasn’t in the mood for that kind of humor in the middle of a game. He shot back, “I mean, I think that’s a weird joke midgame,” and skated off.
If the exchange was meant to rattle him, it didn’t work. Hughes came back and finished the night with the biggest play of the game.
It’s been a packed stretch for Hughes, too. The source notes that he scored the game-winning goal in the Olympic gold medal game and then gave an interview with a bloody mouth.
It also says he later went to the White House, had a disagreement with the Hall of Fame, appeared on “Saturday Night Live,” and dated and then broke up with Tate McRae. Against that backdrop, a freak dinner-table accident might be the last thing he wants brought up on live TV.
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Flames Loss In Vancouver Exposed A Familiar Problem Again
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For Calgary, the frustration came from a familiar place: a game that was there to be grabbed, then slipped away as the tone turned heavier and the details got messier. Vancouver brought the kind of edge that can tilt a night like this, while the Canucks still had to survive through a power play that never really found its rhythm. [Read more 🡒]
Flames Send An Early Message With Lineup Changes After Ugly Opener
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Ryan Huska said the adjustment came down to puck management, a clear sign the staff is looking for cleaner decisions after the opener went sideways. The shuffle gives Calgary a chance to reset quickly, and it also sends an early message that the margins for error are going to be thin as the Flames try to get back on track. [Read more 🡒]
Canucks Suddenly Have A Goalie Decision They Did Not Expect
Leevi Merilinen has given Vancouver something it did not necessarily expect this early in the season: a goalie who has looked poised in limited action. Claimed off waivers from the Ottawa Senators, the 23-year-old has stepped into two games and handled the assignment with a 1.32 goals-against average and a .943 save percentage, numbers that suggest the Canucks may have found more than just a stopgap while Thatcher Demko was out.
The bigger question now is what happens when Demko is ready to return. Vancouver will have to sort through its goalie picture at a time when Merilinen has made a strong early case to stay in the mix, and that kind of unexpected depth can quickly turn into a roster puzzle. For a team that had been watching him since the summer, the timing has only made the conversation more complicated. [Read more 🡒]