Saturday night, the New Jersey Devils look to get back on track by defeating the Minnesota Wild. The Devils lost in Winnipeg just last night after defeating the Chicago Blackhawks on the first game of their road trip.

The Devils are currently 38-29-7, which currently has them third in the Metropolitan division. The Wild hold a record of 41-27-5, which has them fourth in the Central Division.

Match Overview

While the Devils have been on a downturn as of late, losing four of their last five games, the Wild haven’t been much better. They were able to take down the Washington Capitals on home ice in their most recent outing, but lost to the Dallas Stars and Vegas Golden Knights on back-to-back nights by a combined score of 8-1. Both teams are in the thick of the playoff race where every point is crucial.

The Devils have of course been decimated by injuries as of late, losing both Hughes brothers, Dougie Hamilton, Jonas Siegenthaler, and Cody Glass. However, the Wild haven’t been without injuries themselves. They are currently missing two of their best players in Kirill Kaprizov and Joel Eriksson Ek. These two teams’ seasons have gone down fairly similar paths so it will be intriguing to see how this game plays out.

The two teams have yet to play this season, but last year the Devils won both games against Minnesota.

Lines and Pairings

Devils

Check back on our social media pages before the game to see the lineup

Wild

Forwards

Boldy-Rossi-Hinostroza

Johansson-Gaudreau-Zuccarello

Foligno-Hartman-Nyquist

Trenin-Shore-Brazeau

Defense

Middleton-Faber

Brodin-Spurgeon

Merrill-Bogosian

Goalies

Gustavsson

Fleury

Keys to the Game

Injuries

For the second consecutive season, the Devils’ season has been essentially completely derailed by injuries. Last year, it was the extended absences of Jack Hughes, Dougie Hamilton, and Nico Hischier, among others. Those were all spread out throughout the season. This year, the Devils managed to stay fairly healthy until February rolled around.

First, it was Jacob Markstrom, then Siegenthaler, then Hughes, then Hamilton shortly after. Now this recent round of injuries includes Luke Hughes who before last night had not missed a game since he returned from his season opening injury as well as Cody Glass (not injury related per the team) who has been an excellent trade deadline acquisition. 

The team has been losing a ton as of late, which honestly should be expected given who they’re missing. It’s tough that it all happened at once right around playoff time, but hopefully they can rebound next year.

Scheduling Quirk

For the second consecutive season, these two teams are playing a home and home in back-to-back games. Last year the Devils took on the Wild on October 29, winning 4-3. Both teams then traveled to Minnesota where the Devils were able to defeat the Wild 5-3.

This year, it’s the other way around with the teams playing in Minneapolis before heading to New Jersey together to play again on Monday. Considering the teams only play each other twice a year it’s odd that both games have come back-to-back for two seasons in a row.

Where to Watch

Saturday night’s game can be seen on MSG SportsNet at 6:00 pm ET. The game is set to be played at Minnesota’s Xcel Energy Center.