Seattle Kraken vs. New Jersey Devils Pick & Prediction DECEMBER 7th 2023

Now that they’ve prevailed in the “Hughes Bowl,” it’s back to business for the New Jersey Devils. After defeating Vancouver 6-5 Tuesday in a game featuring three Hughes brothers, the Devils will continue their four-game western swing Thursday night in Seattle against the sputtering Kraken. The Devils have won four of their past five games, the lone loss in that span a stunning 6-3 home defeat to the lowly San Jose Sharks. On Tuesday, Jesper Bratt scored his second goal of the game with 34 seconds remaining in regulation to give the Devils the victory. Devils center Jack Hughes and defenseman Luke Hughes faced off against their brother, Canucks defenseman Quinn Hughes, with their parents in attendance. Jack Hughes had a goal and two assists, while younger brother Luke Hughes added a power-play goal. The Canucks’ Quinn Hughes had two assists in the third period to help his team rally from a three-goal deficit to tie the score. “I always enjoy playing Quinn and seem to have good games in Vancouver against him,” Jack Hughes said. “It was a nice win and pretty fun to play with both my brothers.”

Devils coach Lindy Ruff praised both of the Hughes brothers on his roster. “We know that Jack can generate and we know what Luke can do from the back end,” he said. “I thought Jack’s line helped get us going.” Ruff said he thought the Devils played well except for the occasional breakdown. “We made a couple of mistakes that hurt us, but we stayed with it,” the coach said. “We got a puck to the goaltender late and got the bounce. You look at some of their goals and they got the same bounce. I’m pretty sure that both coaches aren’t really excited about giving up leads or fighting back, but the two points is big for us.” The Kraken return home for six consecutive games after an 0-3-1 trip to Chicago, Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal. “Coming in here we had some good confidence, but maybe we need to take a step back and look in the mirror,” forward Jared McCann, the Kraken’s leading scorer, said after Monday’s 4-2 loss to the Canadiens. Trailing 1-0 after the first period, there was some heated discussion in the Kraken locker room. It didn’t seem to have an immediate impact, as Seattle fell behind 3-0 less than midway through the second and couldn’t recover. “Going forward, we have to have better starts,” McCann said. “You can’t chase the game. That’s basically what it comes down to. And we know that. We obviously have some veteran guys in this room who said something after the first period. “But we can’t let it get to that point. We need to come out a lot harder and a lot stronger.” –Field Level Media