When it comes to the Hudson rivalry, one thing hasn’t changed. Jack Hughes continues to own the Rangers. He’s their Daddy. In another dominant performance, Hughes posted a hat trick and an assist for a four-point game in a 6-3 Devils’ win over the Rangers in Newark on Saturday.

In just his 24th career game versus the Rangers, Hughes upped his totals to 19 goals and 13 assists for 32 points. His most against an opponent. After scoring his first goal on the power play via a rocket past Jonathan Quick that made it 3-2, Hughes helped put the game away when he converted on a breakaway in a three-goal third period for the Devils.

That followed up captain Nico Hischier’s game-winning power-play goal, which made the Devils a perfect 3-for-3 on the day. Special teams made a difference in their fourth straight win. Despite gaining a point on the slumping Penguins, who lost to the Flyers in a shootout, they remained nine points out of the wild card due to the Bruins winning over the Capitals.

With 19 games left in the season, the Devils can’t afford many slip-ups if they want to chase down the final wild card or the Pens in the Metropolitan Division. As much of a longshot as it is, they still have something to play for. Following an all too predictable trade deadline in which Tom Fitzgerald did nothing, other than make two statements about Dougie Hamilton and Simon Nemec, the Devils still have the same roster down the stretch.

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Jesper Bratt opened the scoring just 66 seconds in when he put away a Cody Glass feed for his 14th. In what’s been a disappointing season, it was only Bratt’s ninth even-strength goal. With a goal and two helpers, he has a four-game point streak (1-5-6) during the winning streak.

The Rangers came back to tie it thanks to Will Borgen scoring for the second time in three games. Not known for his offense, the defensive defenseman took a Vincent Trocheck pass and beat Jacob Markstrom from distance for his fifth. Since being paired up with Braden Schneider, Borgen has two goals and two assists with a plus-7 rating over his last five games. Both have played well since Mike Sullivan made the change.

A surprising offensive source continues to be Vladislav Gavrikov, who made it three games in a row with a goal. On some strong work down low from Tye Kartye, who was noticeable throughout, Noah Laba fed Gavrikov for a slap shot that went high glove on Markstrom to put the Rangers ahead 2-1.

But late in the period, Gavrikov took a penalty that allowed the Devils to draw even. With him in the box for interference on Paul Cotter, it was the Devils’ second unit that capitalized with time winding down.

Following a pass from Arseny Gritsyuk up top, Luke Hughes waited before firing a wrist shot that Dawson Mercer tipped in for his 15th on the power play. He got free from Matthew Robertson, who didn’t close him out, allowing him to deflect in the Hughes shot to tie the score.

In a mostly lopsided second period that saw the Devils dominate puck possession led by Hughes’ line, Quick kept them off the scoreboard at five-on-five. However, a Trocheck slashing minor proved costly. After they’d done a good job limiting the Devils, the Rangers lost a defensive draw that resulted in Hamilton and Bratt finding an open Hughes for a blast through a double screen to make it 3-2.

Over a minute later, the Rangers answered back. On a rare forecheck spent in the Devils zone, Taylor Raddysh set up Schneider for a shot that Will Cuylle redirected for his 16th. Despite being outshot 14-5, the Rangers went to the locker room tied after two periods.

Early in the third period, a big Juuso Parssinen open ice hit on Connor Brown led to chaos. The high hit came late, leading to a strong response from Gritsyuk. With Parssinen taking his lumps, a frustrated Brown repeatedly slashed him and nearly caught another Ranger. The fracas led to Gritsyuk receiving four minutes for roughing and Parssinen getting two for interference.

On the power play, the Rangers didn’t do a whole lot. They created one excellent scoring chance. On a set play down low, Alexis Lafreniere had Gabe Perreault on the doorstep for the go-ahead goal, but Markstrom robbed him with a toe save to keep the game tied.

Although they spent more time in their end defending against Hughes, the chemistry between Lafreniere and Perreault is undeniable. Perreault nearly had Lafreniere for a goal during another shift. They work well together with Mika Zibanejad, who was held to just one shot by the Devils.

With the game hanging in the balance, Cuylle took an unnecessary hooking minor in the neutral zone on Timo Meier. That proved to be the difference. Bratt had a shot kicked out by Quick into the slot. Neither Adam Fox nor Schneider could recover in time to mark Hischier, who easily snapped home the rebound upstairs for the Devils’ third power-play goal of the game.

The Rangers were putrid on special teams, going 0-for-4 on the power play and allowing one of the league’s worst power plays to get untracked.

Even worse, Fox cost them any chance of a comeback with a mind-numbing turnover that led to Hughes’ second goal. After protecting the puck along the boards, he made a lousy pass that was easily intercepted by Brown, who then sent Hughes on a breakaway where he went high blocker on Quick to make it 5-3 with 3:04 remaining.

Fittingly, Hughes added the empty netter for the hat trick in the final minute. Afterward, he spoke about the crowd chanting, “USA, USA, USA!!!”

“You know it’s funny — after Olympics I got Ranger fans cheering for me and it’s an unbelievable fan base, but in the past — they’ll be like — say something nice and then be like ‘Go Rangers’. Now it’s like, we’re all Americans. They’re proud Americans. I think it’s really cool that that happened and obviously it’ll continue to happen with the Devils fan base.”

Hughes continues to handle himself extremely well. The American gold medal hero is all the way back after the mysterious injury at a steakhouse that required finger surgery. He has it all, including girlfriend Tate McRae. There’s only one thing missing.