Jack Hughes returns for the Devils just over 5 weeks since finger surgery and scores against Sabres
Jack Hughes returned to the Devils’ lineup just over five weeks after having finger surgery and scored New Jersey’s first goal against Buffalo on Sunday night
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Jack Hughes returned to the Devils’ lineup just over five weeks after having finger surgery and scored New Jersey's first goal against Buffalo on Sunday night.
Hughes received a loud ovation when he skated out for warmups, then scored his 11th goal of the season at 8:51 of the first period. That gave the Devils a 1-0 lead and brought more sustained cheers as Hughes raced in celebration to center ice where he was mobbed by teammates.
Hughes was expected to miss two months after his Nov. 15 operation at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York. The 24-year-old center injured his right hand at a team dinner in Chicago a couple of nights earlier.
Hughes was the Devils’ leading scorer at the time of his injury with 20 points, and New Jersey was in first place in the Eastern Conference. The Devils lost 10 of 18 games without Hughes.
Getting back on the ice in game action paves the way for Hughes to be selected for the U.S. Olympic team. The roster deadline for the Milan Games is Dec. 31.
Devils forward Timo Meier also returned for New Jersey after taking a leave of absence earlier this month to attend to a family health matter. He had missed five games.
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO
personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who
make comments. Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd,
racist or sexually-oriented language. Don't threaten. Threats of harming another
person will not be tolerated. Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone
or anything. Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on
each comment to let us know of abusive posts. PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK. Anyone violating these rules will be issued a
warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be
revoked.
Please purchase a Premium Subscription to continue reading.
To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.
We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.
A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means you’re helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.