Nico Hischier recorded his second hat trick of the season to power the New Jersey Devils past the Minnesota Wild 5-2 on Saturday night.
Paul Cotter and Tomas Tatar also found the back of the net for the Devils, while Jesper Bratt tallied two assists, and Jacob Markstrom made 22 saves. The win was New Jersey’s second in its last six games (2-3-1).
Marcus Foligno and Ryan Hartman scored for Minnesota, and Filip Gustavsson stopped 28 shots in the loss. The Wild have now dropped three of their last four contests.
New Jersey wasted no time getting on the board. Hischier scored 29 seconds into the game — the Devils’ fastest goal to start a game this season — and Cotter made it 2-0 before the six-minute mark of the first period.
Hischier added his second of the night early in the third period to make it 3-1, but Hartman answered for Minnesota just two minutes later. Hischier completed the hat trick with a power-play goal with 5:10 left, bringing his season total to a career-best 33 goals.
Foligno also assisted Hartman’s goal and dropped the gloves with New Jersey’s Jonathan Kovacevic to earn a Gordie Howe hat trick.
Game Takeaways
Devils: Hischier has scored points in 10 of his last 11 games, registering seven goals and six assists.
Wild: Minnesota finished a lengthy home-heavy stretch at 5-5-1. With five of their final eight games on the road, the Wild will look to build on their strong away record (22-11-3), which is second-best in the NHL.
Key Moment
In the closing seconds of the second period, the Devils narrowly missed extending their lead to 3-1. On a 3-on-1 rush, Bratt’s shot deflected off Timo Meier’s skate and wide of the net, keeping it a one-goal game heading into the third.
Key Stat
Bratt’s two assists pushed his March total to 15, the most by a Devils player in a single month since Scott Gomez had 16 in March 2004. Bratt now has a career-high 66 assists on the
Up next
The Wild head to New Jersey on Monday to complete the home-and-home series.
