VANCOUVER, British Columbia — The New Jersey Devils won the battle of the Hughes brothers Tuesday night.
Jesper Bratt scored his second goal of the night with 34 seconds left in the third period as the Devils defeated the Vancouver Canucks 6-5 in a nail-biter that resembled a rivalry even though the teams are from opposite conferences.
Jack Hughes had a goal and two assists, while his younger brother Luke Hughes scored on a power play for the Devils. Vancouver’s Quinn Hughes had two third-period assists as the Canucks rallied from three goals down to tie the score.
“I thought both Luke and Quinn played really well,” Jack Hughes said after the win. “A lot of fun to play with them.”
The brothers, all former first-round picks, fell short of becoming the first set of three siblings to score a goal in the same game in nearly 40 years. According to ESPN Stats & Information research, Marian, Anton and Peter Stastny all scored for the Quebec Nordiques on Dec. 8, 1984 vs. New Jersey.
Tuesday’s game was billed as the “Hughes Bowl” and parents, Jim and Ellen Hughes, were in the stands and shown often on the arena’s television screens.
One of the feats they saw was Jack and Luke Hughes, a rookie, scoring in the same game for the third time this season before the Canucks mounted their rally.
“It was a big win for our team; resilient win. It’s a big two points for our team,” Luke Hughes said. “Obviously, not the way we wanted to close it out. But it’s a big two points, and I’m glad we got it done.”
Erik Haula and Michael McLeod also scored for the Devils.
J.T. Miller had a power-play goal and an assist for the Canucks. Brock Boeser, Nils Hoglander, Sam Lafferty and Dakota Joshua also scored for Vancouver.
Vancouver goaltender Thatcher Demko stopped 26 shots, while New Jersey’s Vitek Vanecek had 28 saves.
Heading into the third period trailing by three goals, the Canucks refused to quit with Quinn Hughes playing a big part in the comeback.
“That’s a game, when you’re up 5-2, you shouldn’t let them get back in the game,” Jack Hughes said.
Boeser struck first, taking a Miller pass from along the boards and scoring his NHL leading 18th of the year at 7:02. Lafferty made it 5-4, defecting a Quinn Hughes point shot past Vanecek at 13:58. Hoglander tied the game, taking the rebound of a Quinn Hughes shot and firing it into an open net at 16:34.
Bratt won the game when he put in the rebound of a shot through traffic.
Luke and Jack Hughes combined for the only goal of the second period, which gave the Devils a 5-2 lead.
The Devils led 4-2 after a wild first period that saw the teams combine for three goals in just over six minutes. They then exchanged goals 58 seconds apart as time ticked away.
It was the ninth time in NHL history three brothers played in the same game. The last time was April 13 when Eric and Marc Staal of the Florida Panthers faced Jordan Staal of the Carolina Hurricanes.
“Getting a picture in warmups was pretty cool,” Luke Hughes said. “I haven’t really let it all sink in yet. For me, it’s seeing him off ice, I haven’t seen (Quinn) in a couple of months, and it’s been the five of us. Our whole family has been here for two days, going to dinner and hanging out. It’s been great for our family.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.