Hughes scores winner as Devils outlast Kings 6-4; Kopitar sets LA franchise points record

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Jack Hughes scored the go-ahead goal with 2:29 to play and Jake Allen made 27 saves as the New Jersey Devils edged the Los Angeles Kings 6-4 on Saturday night.

Hughes put the Devils ahead 5-4 in the seesaw game with a power-play goal. Nico Hischier scored twice and Cody Glass, Arseny Gritsyuk and Timo Meier — with a last minute empty-netter — also scored.

Anze Kopitar scored twice for Los Angeles — to establish a Kings franchise points record — and Artemi Panarin and Taylor Ward also scored.

Ward had put the Kings ahead 3-2 at 11:43 of the middle period after Kopitar and Panarin scored in less than two minutes as Los Angeles battled back from an early 2-0 deficit.

But Gritsyuk tied the contest just 25 seconds into the third.

Hischier's second goal put New Jersey ahead at 12:42 of the third before Kopitar scored to tie it again.

Glass scored his career-best 15th goal at 7:56 of the first, beating Anton Forsberg with a fluttering shot. Hischier made it 2-0 at 11:04. Forsberg had 22 saves.

Kopitar scored at 4:15 of the second to narrow the deficit to 2-1.

With his second of the game, the 38-year-old Slovenian forward has 450 career goals and 858 career assists for 1,308 points, moving him ahead of Marcel Dionne. Dionne scored 550 goals with Los Angeles. Luc Robitaille leads with 557.

The Kings captain and a two-time Stanley Cup winner said he will retire after this season.

Panarin tied the contest at 2-2 at 6:03 with his third goal since he was acquired from the New York Rangers on Feb. 4.

Los Angeles is battling San Jose, Seattle and Nashville for the last Western Conference playoff berth.

Devils: Host the Boston Bruins on Monday night.

Kings: Visit the New York Rangers on Monday night to conclude five-game road trip.

AP NHL: https://apnews.com/NHL

New Jersey Devils goaltender Jake Allen (34) and defenseman Luke Hughes (43) defend against Los Angeles Kings right wing Jared Wright (53) during the first period of an NHL hockey game, Saturday, March 14, 2026, in Newark, N.J. (AP Photo/Noah K. Murray)

Los Angeles Kings left wing Artemi Panarin (10) collides with New Jersey Devils center Jack Hughes (86) playing the puck during the second period of an NHL hockey game, Saturday, March 14, 2026, in Newark, N.J. (AP Photo/Noah K. Murray)

New Jersey Devils right wing Timo Meier (28) plays the puck against Los Angeles Kings defenseman Brandt Clarke (92) during the second period of an NHL hockey game, Saturday, March 14, 2026, in Newark, N.J. (AP Photo/Noah K. Murray)

New Jersey Devils center Jack Hughes (86) controls the puck against Los Angeles Kings defenseman Brandt Clarke (92) during the second period of an NHL hockey game, Saturday, March 14, 2026, in Newark, N.J. (AP Photo/Noah K. Murray)

Southeastern Conference commissioner Greg Sankey called NCAA language covering tampering rules “archaic,” but stopped short of urging the oversight body to halt tampering investigations, the way the Big Ten did earlier this week.

Speaking to reporters Saturday at the SEC basketball tournament in Nashville, Tennessee, the commissioner said the new landscape in college sports, which includes name-image-likeness payments to players, shifting and liberal transfer rules along with the increased influence of agents, calls for the language surrounding the rules to be changed.

“We need clarity," Sankey said. "Secondly, we need understanding on the part of policymakers of what's actually happening. How's this game being played? That doesn't mean the NCAA should just stop. But the notion that a memo would be sent and that changes things when the NCAA is perceived as sitting on the sidelines, that's not a workable solution.”

Though nothing new to college sports, tampering hit the headlines last month when Clemson football coach Dabo Swinney accused Mississippi coach Pete Golding of tampering with transfer-portal signee Luke Ferrelli, a linebacker who first left Cal for Clemson, the re-entered the portal and signed with Mississippi.

The NCAA followed with a memo — the one Sankey speaks of — announcing it would “pursue significant penalties” for tampering violations.

While the Big Ten sent a letter to the NCAA asking for a halt of the tampering rules, the commissioners of the Atlantic Coast and Big 12 conferences both said they were opposed.

Sankey placed himself in that category, but said school leaders meeting with NCAA President Charlie Baker this week pressed for quick changes.

“They need a quick policy reset and they need to announce that with clarity,” Sankey said.

AP Sports Writer Teresa M. Walker in Tennessee contributed to this report.

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Commissioner of the Southeastern Conference Greg Sankey speaks during a roundtable discussion on college sports in the East Room of the White House, Friday, March 6, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)