Devils Defeat Wild 5-2 In Hughesbowl

 

Photo: Andrew MacLean

In a highly anticipated "Hughesbowl" that saw all three brothers share the ice on Monday at Crand Casino Arena, the Devils finally found their footing, putting an end to their four-game skid. For New Jersey, Jesper Bratt and Ondrej Palat each netted a pair of goals to lead the charge and help the Devils hand the Minnesota Wild their second straight loss. Out of the Hughes brothers, the only one to pick up a point in the "Hughesbowl" was Jack Hughes. Marcus Foligno and Ryan Hartman each scored for the Wild. The Devils head home on Wednesday to take on the Seattle Kraken, and the Wild will host the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday, hoping to get a win on home ice before heading to Buffalo.

New Jersey Devils Lineup:

Meier - Hughes - Bratt

Palat - Hischier - Mercer

Gritsyuk - Glass - Brown

Cotter - Glendening - Dadonov

Hughes - Pesce

Siegenthaler - Kovacevic

Dillon - Hamilton

Markstrom

Allen

Minnesota Wild Lineup:

Kaprizov - Yurov - Zuccarello

Johansson - Hartman - Boldy

Tarasenko - Jones - Hinostroza

Foligno - Sturm - Trenin

Hughes - Faber

 Brodin - Spurgeon

Middleton - Hunt

Wallstedt

Gustavsson

Dawson Mercer opened the scoring to give New Jersey a 1-0 lead, putting in his 12th goal of the season at 9:53 of the first period. He took a pass from Nico Hischier, who was battling for the puck along the wall with Brock Faber, and worked it off the wall behind the net, handing it off to Mercer in the low slot for a snap shot past Jesper Wallstedt.

Late in the middle frame at 6:19, Ryan Hartman knotted it up 1-1 with his 12th of the season after Quinn Hughes kept the puck away from Mercer to pass to Marcus Johansson, who waited before passing it off to Faber. He fired a slap shot from the point, and Hartman in front deflected it past Jacob Markstrom. With 8 seconds remaining on the clock, Ondrej Palat untied the knot to put the Devils back in front 2-1 for his first goal in 20 games when he quickly poked it in past Wallstedt after Hischier grabbed a hold of the puck behind the net before skating around in front, tapping the puck backhanded for Palat to record his third goal of the season.

Jesper Bratt tapped it in on a 2-on-1 with Dougie Hamilton to increase the New Jersey lead 3-1 after at 12:32 of the third, and only 21 seconds later, Bratt scored his 11th goal of the season to extend the lead 4-1 with a backdoor tip-in off a shot by Hamilton, who received a pass from Brenden Dillon near the blue line before firing. At 10:21, Palat struck again for his fourth of the season to make it 5-1 when he drove up to attempt to pick up the puck after Hischier sent it up along the wall, and after the Wild got a hold of the puck, Hischier interrupted, getting it loose for Mercer. Mercer sent a centering pass in the low slot to Palat to put it home. Marcus Foligno cut the deficit to 5-2 with a power-play goal, picking up his second goal of the season with a rebound and only 19 seconds left of regulation.

Photo: Andrew MacLean

Notes:

- Jacob Markstrom made a total of 20 saves for New Jersey.

- Dawson Mercer picked up both a goal and an assist, Dougie Hamilton and Nico Hischier each recorded two assists, and both Ondrej Palat and Jesper Bratt scored twice.

- With his two goals in only 21 seconds, Bratt became the second-fastest two goals by one player in franchise history behind Hischier (0:10 on October 19th, 2024).

- The Devils are 23-21-2, coming off a 4-3 loss against the Winnipeg Jets on Sunday.

- Jesper Wallstedt made a total of 24 saves for Minnesota.

- The Wild are 26-12-9, losing two straight and four of their past five (1-2-2).