Jack Hughes returns for the Devils just over 5 weeks since finger surgery and scores against Sabres

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NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Jack Hughes returned to the Devils’ lineup just over five weeks after having finger surgery and scored New Jersey's only 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.

That goal also was the high point of the night at Prudential Center as the Sabres scored twice in the second period and added an empty net goal to secure a 3-1 win, Buffalo's sixth-straight victory.

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, who injured his right hand at a team dinner in Chicago a couple of nights earlier, was clearly happy to be back on the ice with his teammates.

“For me personally, it was really fun to get back out there and play,'' Hughes said. ”I'm glad I'm out there playing again, it's the best thing to do. When you're sitting on the couch and guys are playing, that's the taxing part of being injured. You want to be out there. That's what you want to do the most."

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.

The top overall pick by New Jersey in the 2019 draft, Hughes scored 27 goals in 62 games in each of the past two seasons. He scored a career-high 43 goals and had 99 points overall in 2022-23 when the Devils finished with 52 wins and 112 points.

Devils coach Sheldon Keefe was happy to see his star player back but disappointed with the outcome.

“Great goal by Jack. He was responsible for four or five high-danger chances that he created for himself or others in the first period,'' Keefe said. ”That in itself probably should have been enough for us to win the game if we had been able to execute and finish some of those chances ... Overall as a team we didn't play well enough for three periods to win the game."

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.

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