Devils' Hughes exits game early with apparent upper-body injury
Published
New Jersey Devils forward Jack Hughes left Sunday's game against the Vegas Golden Knights early after sustaining an apparent upper-body injury.
Hughes, 23, was injured late in the third period when he got tangled up with Golden Knights forward Jack Eichel's skates and crashed into the boards.
The 5-foot-11 centre went into the boards arms first and was clutching his right wrist on the way to the bench.
Eichel was not penalized on the play but Devils head coach Sheldon Keefe was assessed a two-minute unsportsmanlike conduct penalty and a game misconduct for his reaction to the incident.
The Golden Knights went on to defeat the Devils 2-0 on Sunday and Hughes recorded three shots and two penalty minutes on 21:54 minutes of ice time.
Keefe told reporters after the game that he had no update on Hughes' condition and are going to take their time evaluating him to get the full extent of the injury.
Hughes leads the Devils and is tied for ninth in NHL scoring with 27 goals and 70 points in 62 games this season.
He missed 20 games last season with upper-body injuries and required surgery on his shoulder prior to the end of the season.
The Devils sit in third place in the Metropolitan Division with a 33-23-6 record and are two points behind the Carolina Hurricanes for second place.
They will travel to Dallas on Tuesday to take on the Stars in their final game before the trade deadline and will return home on Friday to host the Winnipeg Jets.