Jack Hughes had had enough of Viktor Arvidsson.
The Devils phenom got into a scuffle with the Kings’ forward, with Arvidsson landing an elbow to Hughes’ head in the second period of their Thursday night tilt in Newark.
Their tiff landed both in the penalty box with coincidental minors, where Hughes landed a verbal jab.
“People pay to watch me play,” he appeared to tell Arvidsson from his side of the sin bin.
Things didn’t end after they exited, however.
As Hughes broke in on goalie David Rittich, Arvidsson — making his season debut — was right there to impede him from behind.
Miffed at what he believed to be a penalty-worthy play, Hughes objected to the referees and swung his stuck at the glass as he skated back to the bench, eventually snapping it over the boards and tossing it onto the ice.
The Kings emerged with the last laugh between the two underperforming squads, taking a scrappy 2-1 win thanks to Quinton Byfield’s late power-play goal.
Hughes’ fire was appreciated by his teammates.
“Jack understands the game,” defenseman Brendan Smith told reporters. “You never want to see people hit the hands up, especially against high-class players, elite players. But I mean, it’s hockey. These things happen. It’s better this way when nobody gets hurt. It just shows enthusiasm. It shows that he’s in it to win and we love that and it fires up our bench too.
“So yeah, it’s great. You don’t want to see it, but hey, when Jack steps up, it gives you a little bit of extra momentum.”