The National Hockey League announced their three stars for the week ending March 16. Darcy Kuemper of the Los Angeles Kings took the top spot, and Brandon Montour of the Seattle Kraken was named the third star of the week. Right in the middle at the second-star position was New Jersey Devils winger Jesper Bratt.
Despite falling 7-3 to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday, March 15th, the Devils had a nice week with a record of 2-1. The Devils had a winning streak of three games dating back to the previous week. With Jack Hughes out of the lineup, many expected Bratt to step up in his buddy’s absence. Bratt did exactly that.
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During the three games with the week ending March 16th, Bratt had nine points (two goals and seven assists). This included three points in each of his three outings. With the Devils only a four-point lead over the Columbus Blue Jackets, Bratt helped propel New Jersey to a record of 36-26-6 for 78 points, including a pair of wins to increase their lead for third place in the Metro.
Per the NHL: Bratt became the sixth different player in franchise history to post at least three points in three straight games and the third to do so in the past 30 years, following Jack Hughes (Oct. 20-25, 2023: 2-9—11 in 3 GP) and Ilya Kovalchuk (Feb. 2-5, 2012: 2-7—9 in 3 GP).
Bratt registered three points (one goal and two assists) in each of his first two contests of the week. The Devils won 5-3 over the Columbus Blue Jackets on March 11. Then, in a 3-2 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on March 13, he scored the tying goal early in the third period and collected the primary assist on the game-winner 1:35 later.
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He added his ninth career three-assist performance in a loss to the Penguins on Saturday and his second of the season. He last did on December 2nd against the New York Rangers when he recorded four points (one goal and three assists). Despite the loss, Jesper Bratt tied former Devils captain Scott Stevens for most assists in a season in franchise history with 60. He needs one assist to break Stevens’s record. There is a good chance he will do it against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Monday.
Bratt has also factored on seven consecutive team goals. In addition, Bratt sits ninth in the NHL with 79 points (19 goals and 60 assists) in 68 games this season with the New Jersey Devils. Along with these fantastic stats, Bratt also places among the top 10 in power-play assists (t-2nd; 26), assists (4th; 60), power-play points (t-8th; 30), and even-strength assists (t-9th; 33).
It is amazing that the NHL Network did not name Jesper Bratt one of the top 20 wingers over the summer.
