Despite an anxiety-inducing penalty kill to end the game, the New Jersey Devils (5-2-1) hung on to beat the Minnesota Wild (3-4-2) 4-3 in an exciting game at the Prudential Center on Sunday. Like most of their wins to this point, it wasn’t always smooth sailing for New Jersey, but they managed to do just enough to cling to a one-goal victory.
Summary
First Period
The Devils started the game with a man advantage thanks to a high sticking call on Jake Middleton. They got some good puck movement, but couldn’t capitalize on the early opportunity. Minnesota got some good chances after the penalty, including a one-time blast from Marcus Johansson in the slot, but Vitek Vanecek stood tall in goal.
Jesper Bratt opened the scoring at the 6:13 mark, receiving a beautiful feed from John Marino in the far circle and wristing it through traffic in front of the net. Soon after, Jon Merrill of the Wild made a nice play in his own end to start an odd-man rush while also drawing a penalty. Vanecek stoned Kirill Kaprizov on the rush attempt, but Minnesota would go on the power play for the first time. They spent the entire two minutes in the Devils’ zone, with Vanecek making some good stops to keep the Wild off the score sheet.
Minnesota finally tied it at the 14:53 mark on a fantastic solo effort from Pat Maroon, who corralled a loose puck off Brendan Smith’s stick, brought it to his forehand, and snapped it home.
The period would end tied 1-1. The Devils controlled a majority of the scoring chances with a 54.55 Corsi-for percentage (CF%), but allowed plenty of great looks on Minnesota, notching a subpar 29.87 expected goal percentage (xG%).
Second Period
The Devils started the second period with some good scoring chances on Marc-Andre Fleury before a hooking call on Erik Haula at the 2:23 mark killed the momentum. The Wild capitalized almost immediately with a goal from Ryan Hartman, who buried it after a shot from Joel Erikson-Ek took an unlucky bounce off a defending Michael McLeod’s stick right to him.
Next up, Jesper Bratt seemingly tied it up after snapping a slot shot home, but the goal was called back after a successful offside challenge on Alex Holtz.
Tyler Toffoli tied it up for real at the 6:10 mark, deflecting a beautiful seam pass from Jesper Bratt in the crease. It was yet another power-play goal for New Jersey, an area of their game that has shined so far this season.
The red-hot Erik Haula retook the lead for the Devils just 45 seconds later, ripping it home from the blue line after a bad giveaway from Vinni Lettieri. However, it’s probably a goal Fleury wants back.
Minnesota had two back-to-back power play opportunities after this and spent almost all of that time buzzing in the Devils’ zone, but couldn’t find the back of the net.
Jesper Bratt scored his second goal of the night on the power play at the end of the period, giving the Devils a 4-2 lead heading into the second intermission.
New Jersey had a much better second period but once again got bailed out by Vanecek on some plays. Despite this, they notched a CF% of 60 and an xG% of 71.28.
Third Period
Things quieted down for much of the third period. Both teams got some high-danger chances, but couldn’t establish consistent pressure. Finally, Jake Middleton brought the Wild back into the game with a goal at the 15:17 mark, throwing it on net from the high slot. Pat Maroon added to his good night with an assist, wrapping behind the net before sending it to Middleton with a backhand feed.
Wild head coach Dean Evason pulled the goalie with just under 2:30 to play, starting a last-ditch push by the Wild to tie the game. During this stretch, Erik Haula took a high sticking penalty, sending the Wild to the power play.
Minnesota fought desperately, but couldn’t get through New Jersey’s four defenders. With just ten seconds to play, Kaprizov blasted a shot from the point, but Vanecek made another clutch save, sealing it for the Devils.
Although they didn’t score, the Devils had a solid third period, posting a 60.71 CF% and a 61.55 xG%.
Results
The Devils have seemed to win in heart-pounding fashion this season, and Sunday was no exception. Despite Minnesota spending extended amounts of time in the Devils’ zone, they managed to keep pace and hang on for the win with help from Vitek Vanecek and Jesper Bratt.
The Devils now own a 5-2-1 record and 11 points, good for second place in the Metropolitan Division. The banged-up Wild, on the other hand, are tied for third in the Central with a 3-4-2 record and eight points.
Game Notes
Special Teams Make the Difference
Just as we alluded to before the game, the special teams units were the game-changers last night. The power play was as effective as ever, with two goals coming from Jesper Bratt and Tyler Toffoli.
The penalty kill, which struggled to start the year but bounced back as of late, bent a ton but only broke once. Minnesota spent almost all of their power play time inside the offensive zone, leaving the penalty kill unit exhausted and in need of clears.
Then, in the third period, the Devils’ put together two clutch kills, one where Minnesota didn’t set up and the game-winning kill. Overall, the Wild power play went 1-for-6.
Other Notes
- Jesper Bratt continued his fantastic start to the season yesterday, scoring twice and adding an assist, bringing his point streak to seven games.
- Erik Haula scored a goal in the win, his third in the last two games. He now has four goals and five points in six games.
- Vanecek had another night full of clutch saves, keeping the Devils in it. He stopped 31 of 34 shots for a .912 save percentage.
- Tyler Toffoli scored a goal in the win, his seventh in the past five games.
Up Next
The Devils and Wild will play a rematch on Thursday in Minnesota at 8:00 pm ET.