NEWARK — In an early season measuring-stick type of game for the New Jersey Devils, they came out looking like a legitimate contender in the Eastern Conference. Thursday night’s showdown between the top two teams in the Metropolitan Division standings ended up as a 4-2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes at the Prudential Center, sparked by two goals from Jesper Bratt and 20 saves for Jacob Markstrom, who was playing in his 500th career NHL game. “Playing 500 games, that’s something you only dream about when you’re younger,” said Markstrom, who is in his first season in New Jersey following an offseason trade from Calgary. “I feel like I’ve got a few left in me. The guys made it special, played a great game, the fans were amazing. I had (my son) in the locker room before the game, and hats off to these guys, they made it special. It gets a little emotional when you have your family in the room…it made it special for sure, and it was nice to get a win.” That win tied the Devils for the most points in the Eastern Conference with a 13-7-2 record, and while there’s still plenty of hockey left to be played this season, they inarguably look better than they did last season; that nightmare year ended with an early trip home after missing the playoffs. “Something I think we’ve all mentioned before is we want to be a better team at home,” said star forward Jack Hughes, who had a highlight reel assist on Bratt’s first goal and contributed three helpers overall on the night. “We know that’s been the best team in the league up to this point, so it’s a really good effort out of us tonight…me and (Bratt), I love playing with him. He’s played great every year we’ve played together.” As Hughes noted, head coach Sheldon Keefe has seemingly found something by putting he and Bratt on a line with Ondrej Palat; the 23-year old superstar forward is on pace to at least come close to matching the 43-56–99 line from his 2022-23 breakout year. If there’s been a criticism of Hughes game over the years, it’s been concerns over not being a 200-foot player, but he spoke about being a part of learning how to play tighter defensively under Keefe, who has seemingly already learned how to get the most out of his franchise cornerstone early in his tenure with the team, which can only lead to more winning down the road. “I mean, Jack was just terrific from start to finish, I thought,” Keefe said. “This is a team in Carolina that makes it real hard on you to get through the neutral zone, hard to get time and space, and Jack was finding ways to do that here tonight…(the win) is big. It’s a top team in the league, as far as I’m concerned and certainly in our division. Have to get points from them when we can, and I liked our game tonight.”