The Minnesota Wild and New Jersey Devils met for the first time this season on Saturday afternoon, Mar. 29, in St. Paul, Minnesota. This was the first game of a home-and-home series between the Wild and Devils. The Wild had the same injuries to report as the last few weeks: Kirill Kaprizov, Joel Eriksson Ek, and Declan Chisholm. The Devils’ injury list included Jonas Siegenthaler, Jack Hughes, and Dougie Hamilton.
Related: 3 Takeaways From the Wild’s Win Over the Capitals
The goaltending battle was between Filip Gustavsson for the Wild and Jacob Markstrom for the Devils. The game started out in favor of the Devils, and it stayed that way as they won 5-2 despite any Wild effort to mount a comeback. This moved the Wild to a record of 41-28-5 and the Devils to 39-29-7.
Game Recap
The game started with the Devils scoring two quick goals to open the period. The first goal was scored by Devils captain Nico Hischier, who Jesper Bratt and Stefan Noesen assisted. Paul Cotter scored the second goal; he snuck the puck in under Gustavsson, and Brian Dumoulin and Nolan Foote assisted him to put their team up 2-0 early in the first.
The Wild answered back late in the first period as Marcus Foligno tipped a shot taken by Jared Spurgeon to get their team back within one. Spurgeon and Gustav Nyquist were credited with the assists. Despite some close calls and shoving matches, there was no scoring in the second period, and the Devils carried the 2-1 lead into the third.
Hischier scored his second of the game early in the third period to give his team a two-goal lead for the second time of the game. The Wild answered a few minutes later as Ryan Hartman knocked in a loose puck in the crease. Foligno and Zach Bogosian assisted him to make it 3-2. The Devils capitalized when the Wild took an offensive zone penalty as Hischier tallied a hat trick with his third goal of the game. Luke Hughes and Bratt assisted him to make it 4-2. The Devils responded one more time with a goal by Tomas Tatar to take a three-goal lead. Ondrej Palat and Justin Dowling assisted him to make it 5-2 and they took the win.
The Wild and Devils won’t have a lot of time to think about this game as they’ll be right back at it on Monday, Mar. 31. The second half of this home and home series will be in New Jersey and although the Devils have the upper hand, the Wild have a strong road record to make for an intriguing matchup.
