Hughes Exits With Shoulder Injury as Devils Blanked for 8th Time This Season. Questions for Trade Arise

Jack Hughes exited last night's game with an apparent shoulder injury after crashing into the boards last night against the Vegas Golden Knights

Vegas Golden Knights center Jack Eichel (9) checks on New Jersey Devils center Jack Hughes (86) after a major collision late in the 3rd period of the NHL Hockey game on Sunday, March 2nd, 2025. (AP Photo/Ian Maule)

Another major problem has entered into the lives of the New Jersey Devils. With a lack of goals from their bottom six players already, they may not have Jack Hughes for a long period.

Once again, the Devils' scoring woes continued against the Vegas Golden Knights on Sunday as they failed to score a goal for the 8th time this season. This is the most times the Devils have been shut out in a season since the 2009-10 season, where they were shut out seven times.

Brief Game Summary:

The game was very even heading into the 3rd period. Jacob Markstrom, who had missed almost a month of the season with an MCL sprain, came back into the lineup tonight against the Golden Knights. He played very well, posting a .917 save percentage. Unfortunately, his offense could not give him any support, and the VGK would break through with 18:33 left in the 3rd period. In addition, both of the Golden Knights’ goals would come on the power play.

Jack Hughes:

The main discussion after the game was the status of Jack Hughes. Hughes left the game with 1:48 left in the 3rd period. Sheldon Keefe was also ejected from the game after arguing with the officials about a penalty. Hughes had been called for interference earlier in the game, which gave the Golden Knights their first goal. However, the Devils without Jack Hughes can be a massive problem. Hughes has been the Devils' top point scorer this season. He has been on the ice for 66% of the Devils’ goals since the new year. Losing him with an already weak offense could just make problems worse. Furthermore, with no trades made as of March 2nd, questions about the trade deadline arise. We have to hear more about the injury to conclude, but with the trade deadline only a few hours away, fans question, “Should the Devils be buyers or sellers?”