The New Jersey Devils have a short turnaround as they try to extend their winning streak when they return home on Wednesday to face the Minnesota Wild in Newark, N.J.
The Devils recorded their fifth consecutive victory on Tuesday, prevailing 5-2 against the host Toronto Maple Leafs. Jack Hughes recorded the third hat trick of his career, and Jesper Bratt assisted on all three tallies.
New Jersey is riding its longest winning streak since capturing five in a row in January 2023. Earlier that season, the Devils won 13 consecutive games, tying the 2000-01 team for the longest streak in franchise history.
Second-year Devils coach Sheldon Keefe told reporters after the Tuesday game that the current streak has developed as the players have accepted his management style.
“We’ve continued to push and challenge, even though we’ve been winning games,” Keefe said. “In asking them for more and challenging that way, they responded really well. I think the energy, the camaraderie of the group has been very good.”
Bratt (three goals, seven assists) has a point in each of the Devils’ six games, and Hughes (six goals, three assists) has been held without a point just once.
However, it has not just been the offense helping the Devils stay hot. They have allowed only 11 goals in the past five games, and their penalty-killing unit has not yielded a goal in 18 chances during the streak.
That defense will be challenged against the NHL’s best power play, although the Wild have cooled off lately.
Minnesota is converting an NHL-best 34.5% of its chances (10 of 29) with the man advantage, but the Wild have not cashed in on any of their past eight power plays. They went 0-for-3 on the power play in a 3-1 road win over the New York Rangers on Monday.
That result snapped a three-game losing streak (0-2-1) for Minnesota, which will wrap up a five-game road trip on Wednesday.
The Wild held a meeting prior to the game, then saw the Rangers take the lead on a first-minute goal. Minnesota coach John Hynes said the early deficit did not cause his players to panic.
“We know we’re a good team, but we’re a team that has to play as a team,” Hynes said. “And we need to play a certain style, the way that we’re built, and we were committed to that.”
Minnesota won on Monday despite the absence of two key players. Forward Marco Rossi (one goal, four assists) missed the game after sustaining a lower-body injury in a Saturday loss to the Philadelphia Flyers. Defenseman Zach Bogosian missed his second straight game after he sustained a lower-body injury on Friday against the Washington Capitals.
On Tuesday, the Wild placed Bogosian on injured reserve and called up forward Hunter Haight from the club’s AHL Iowa affiliate. Haight, 21, made his NHL debut earlier this month.
Devils goalie Nico Daws is expected to make his season debut on Wednesday. He was called up last week after Jacob Markstrom sustained a lower-body injury. Daws, who is 22-23-1 with a 2.98 goals-against average and a .898 save percentage over parts of three seasons, has never faced the Wild.
Wild goalie Filip Gustavsson stopped 23 shots in the Monday win over the Rangers to break his personal three-game losing streak. In five career games against New Jersey, he is 2-2-1 with 2.87 GAA and a .915 save percentage.
–Field Level Media
