New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill was booed by fans attending the NJ Devils hockey game at the Prudential Center on Wednesday.

The game marked the NHL return of Team USA Olympic hero Jack Hughes since he scored the winning goal against Canada in the gold medal game on Sunday.

Sherrill was in attendance to welcome Hughes and other Olympic players back to stateside ice, but when she was announced by the PA spokesperson for the ceremonial puck drop, the Newark crowd erupted in relentless boos for her and her husband, Jason Hedberg.

Still, Sherrill went on to make a social media post that included photos of her, Hughes and other players, celebrating the gold medal. Sherrill was mocked in response, as many critics pointed out how loudly she was booed.

“You managed to somehow get booed loudly during the most festive thing at the Rock ever,” one X user wrote.

Another user wrote, “Didn’t everyone boo you?”

Sherrill has been a target of criticism from patriotic Americans dating back to her 2025 campaign, when it was revealed she was kept from participating in her Naval Academy commencement due to disciplinary action involving midshipmen stealing test answers in a particularly challenging electrical engineering course required for all non-engineering majors.

Sherill downplayed her involvement, saying, “I didn’t turn in some of my classmates, so I didn’t walk but graduated and was commissioned as an officer in the U.S. Navy, serving for nearly 10 years with the highest level of distinction and honor.”

Just this week, the Justice Department filed a lawsuit against New Jersey and Sherrill, accusing the state of expanding its sanctuary policies and obstructing federal immigration enforcement through a new executive order.

Still, Sherill’s presence didn’t stop anyone at the Prudential Center from celebrating Hughes and company on Wednesday.

Prior to the puck drop against the Buffalo Sabres, the Devils honored all of their Olympians from 2026, including those who represented foreign nations. No one received a warmer reception from the crowd than Hughes, as fans chanted “U-S-A!”

Hughes nearly broke down in tears while addressing the crowd.

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“I’m so proud, and I’m so happy that the men’s and women’s USA hockey teams brought gold medals back to the United States of America,” Hughes said to the crowd. “You guys are making me emotional, but I’m so proud to represent the New Jersey Devils organization. And I’m so, so proud to represent the great state of New Jersey – so proud.

“From the bottom of my heart, all of my teammates, USA teammates, we just want to thank you guys for all the love and support. We feel it.”

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Queta has been a revelation for the Celtics this season and helped them improbably surge into second place in the Eastern Conference. But it is unlikely he or his team envisioned nights like Sunday, when he crafted the best game of his career to propel Boston to a 114-98 win over the 76ers at TD Garden, its 11th in 13 games.

The 26-year-old center finished with 27 points and 17 rebounds and received ‘MVP’ chants several times in the fourth quarter.

“I thought he’s had great ownership and responsibility to what it calls for to be a starting center for the Celtics, and he’s got to continue to get better,” Mazzulla said. “He works at it. He cares. So, it’s a credit to him.”

The Celtics, who entered the night averaging 17.1 second-chance points per game, poured in 30 Sunday, with Queta leading the charge. With 76ers center Andre Drummond often playing up and trying to congest the lanes for Boston’s talented ballhandlers, Queta forcefully and quickly found space around the rim.

“We just gave him the ball and trusted him to make the right decision every time, and he was able to get it going,” forward Jaylen Brown said. “He had some nice up-and-unders in the seam and stuff like that that helped propel us to a win.”

Brown added 27 points, 8 rebounds, and 8 assists for Boston.

Tyrese Maxey had 33 points to lead the 76ers, but they did not come easily. The All-Star guard played 43 minutes and made just 12 of 34 shots. Philadelphia was without star center Joel Embiid (oblique).

“He didn’t have a ton of layups, didn’t have a ton of free throws,” Mazzulla said of Maxey. “I thought he obviously missed some good shots, but when you have the ball as much as he did, I thought we did a really good job just being disciplined, defending without fouling, keeping him out of transition.”

The Celtics improved to 40-20, with just 22 games remaining in the regular season. After the game, there was a visible reminder of what could be on the way.

Star forward Jayson Tatum, who could be nearing a return from last May’s Achilles injury, sat at his locker and laughed and joked with team staffers. He also posted the latest clip from the NBC docuseries about his comeback on his social media accounts.

For now, of course, the Celtics continue to plow forward without him. On Sunday, Boston quickly wiped away an early 10-point deficit behind Queta. He registered five offensive rebounds in the opening period, and flashed an unusual amount of offensive creativity during his dominant second quarter.

During one stretch, he danced through the lane for a basket, converted a putback, then dazzled the crowd by trailing a fast break, taking a pass from Brown, and converting an acrobatic scoop shot that gave Boston a 40-35 lead.

“We don’t want him to get too carried away with some of those,” Brown said, smiling. “But he was converting them tonight and it looked good.”

Queta reminded everyone that much of his value comes from his defensive work when he swatted a Kelly Oubre Jr. shot out of bounds, and he received a rare standing ovation when he checked out moments later.

Finally, after a well-executed two-for-one opportunity, Brown found Baylor Scheierman, who played with a splint on his broken left thumb, in the right corner; he hit a buzzer-beating 3-pointer that gave Boston a 62-50 lead at the break. Scheierman gave a high thumbs-up with his bandaged digit.

The Celtics led by 16 early in the third quarter, but the 76ers continued to push back. Three-pointers in the final minute by Quentin Grimes and Maxey made it 89-83 at the start of the fourth.

The 76ers trailed by 6 with four minutes left in the fourth quarter but missed their next five shots, any one of which could have put real pressure on Boston.

With 2:56 left, Queta converted a layup as he was fouled, stretching the lead back to 105-97. He received ‘MVP’ chants for the second time in the quarter when he went to the foul line. Then, with 1:56 left, he put an exclamation point on his memorable night by grabbing yet another offensive rebound and throwing down a two-handed dunk that made it 109-98.

“I thought Neemi matched and exceeded the [76ers] physicality,” Mazzulla said.

Adam Himmelsbach can be reached at adam.himmelsbach@globe.com. Follow him @adamhimmelsbach.