The Minnesota Wild didn’t let a traffic jam hinder their performance against the New Jersey Devils.
Kevin Fiala scored the only goal in a shootout, Cam Talbot made 42 saves, and the Wild defeated the Devils 3-2 on Wednesday night despite arriving late to the arena.
The Wild were delayed in holiday traffic in Manhattan due to the Holland Tunnel closure. They finally arrived at Prudential Center at 6:26 p.m. This pushed the game start back 24 minutes to 7:33 p.m.
“In my opinion, it’s a little irresponsible on their part,” Devils coach Lindy Ruff said.
The delay didn’t faze the visiting team, which endured a 2 1/2-hour bus ride from their hotel to the arena.
“Tried to come in here and not overthink anything. Just go out there and control what I can control. That’s all you can do in a game like this,” Talbot said. “So that was my mindset coming into it, and I feel like I was able to execute that tonight.”
Minnesota scored two first-period goals before the Devils overcame a 2-0 deficit in the third, sending the game into overtime.
Dmitry Kulikov assisted Ryan Hartman’s goal to open the scoring 12:10 into the first period, giving the Wild a 1-0 lead. Nico Sturm scored at 19:06, making it 2-0 by the first intermission.
The Devils cut the lead in half early in the third when Pavel Zacha scored at 3:08, making it 2-1.
New Jersey tied the game with six skaters on the ice when Yegor Sharangovich scored 18:53, sending the game into overtime at 2-all.
The Wild ended a two-game skid and remained atop the Central Division.
Mackenzie Blackwood made 27 saves in the loss. The Devils were 0 for 4 on the power play, including a two-man advantage in the third period when Talbot made three saves.
“We did have a couple of good looks. We did have a couple that were frustrating on the entry,” Ruff said. “We made some tough decisions, but that’s stuff that we’re just going to keep working on. I think we hit a post on a power play, I think we hit an open net on a power play. We’ve just got to keep believing that it will get better if we keep working at it.”
The Devils fell to 1-3 in shootouts this season, while the Wild improved to 2-1.
Game Notes
New Jersey center Chase De Leo debuted for the Devils, playing nine shifts and 5:30.
UP NEXT
- Wild: Host the Winnipeg Jets on Friday afternoon.
- Devils: At the Nashville Predators on Friday night.
