Jack Hughes scored the New Jersey Devils' overtime winner in their season opener against the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday night. However, Hughes' overtime winner is not the only thing creating chatter among hockey fans from the Devils' first game of the season. This is because Hughes also had a very tense interaction with ESPN reporter AJ Mleczko during their interview between the first and second periods.
At the end of the interview, Mleczko made a joke about Hughes cutting his finger during this past season and suggested he should cover himself in bubble wrap because of his injury trouble. Instead of laughing at Mleczko's joke, Hughes made it clear that he was not amused. "Well, it's great to see you healthy," Mleczko said.
"Wrap you in bubble wrap and use plastic cutlery this year? Does that sound good?" "I mean, I think that's a weird joke. Big game, but," Hughes said before abruptly skating away.
Mleczko seemed surprised by Hughes' unamused response. "Well, no sense of humor here in a big game, but I appreciate his time, and he had a good start here this season," Mleczko said. This was undoubtedly an awkward interaction between Hughes and Mleczko.
Hughes made it clear that he was focused on the game and did not want to discuss his past injury. Perhaps the joke would have landed better if it had been said before or after the game. Nevertheless, Hughes was certainly not impacted by the interaction in negative way, as he scored New Jersey's overtime-winning goal.
Now, the 25-year-old center will be looking to build off it as the campaign rolls on.
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