Jack Hughes had had enough of Viktor Arvidsson.
The Devils phenom got into a scuffle with a Kings forward, resulting in Arvidsson elbowing Hughes in the head during the second period on Thursday night in Newark.
Both tiffs were accidental minors and both ended up in the penalty box, where Hughes landed a verbal jab.
“People are paying money to watch me play,” he appeared to tell Arvidsson from his side of the sin box.
But things didn’t end after their exit.
When Hughes cut into goalkeeper David Rittich, Arvidsson, making his season debut, was right there to thwart him from behind.
Embarrassed by the play, which he believed deserved a penalty, Hughes protested to the officials, swung his stick toward the glass while skating back to the bench, and ended up breaking his stick over the boards and throwing it onto the ice. .
The Kings had the last laugh as both underperforming teams, emerging with a narrow 2-1 victory thanks to Quinton Byfield’s late power play goal.
Hughes’ shooting was highly praised by his teammates.
“Jack understands the game,” defenseman Brendan Smith told reporters. “You never want to see people raise their hands, especially against high-class players, elite players. But that’s hockey. These things happen. If no one gets hurt, it’s better this way. That’s good. That just shows the enthusiasm. It shows he’s really committed to winning and we love that and it energizes our bench as well.
“Oh yeah, that’s great. You might not want to see it, but when Jack steps up, it just adds a little bit of momentum.”
