Jesper Bratt scored a goal and provided three assists as the New Jersey Devils surged to a 3-0 lead and secured a 5-3 victory over the Minnesota Wild on Thursday.
Strong Start for Devils
Timo Meier, Alexander Holtz, Michael McLeod, and Dougie Hamilton also found the net for New Jersey, whose top-ranked power play scored three times. Jack Hughes contributed two assists, increasing his league-leading total to 15 and bringing his point tally to 20, two ahead of Bratt.
“Those two guys have just been dynamic,” said Devils coach Lindy Ruff. “When you have one of them on one line and the other guy on another, it’s a really good one-two punch. They’re thriving on the power play but also creating great opportunities at even strength.”
Power Play Excellence
New Jersey (6-2-1) has netted 17 power-play goals in nine games this season. On Thursday, they capitalized on three of six power-play opportunities, including two late goals as the Wild struggled to keep up.
“It’s been good, it’s been working,” Bratt said about their power play. “We’re dialed in, talk about it a lot, and work on it. We aim to be a power play unit that shifts momentum and energizes the team.”
Vanecek’s Solid Performance
Vitek Vanecek made 22 saves for the Devils, who improved to 3-0 on the road and have won five of their last six games.
Wild’s Efforts
Kirill Kaprizov, Marco Rossi, and Jake Middleton scored for the Wild, while Filip Gustavsson made 33 saves. Minnesota (0-3-1 in their last four games) struggled with consistency.
“Sometimes you win one game, two games, and everyone feels good,” Kaprizov said through an interpreter. “Lately, we play well for one period and poorly for another—turnovers and lost pucks.”
Early Dominance
The Devils took control early, scoring twice in the first period to lead 2-0. Nathan Bastian set up Holtz for a wrist shot goal at 3:20, and McLeod doubled the lead at 15:23 with an easy tap-in from a pass by Ondrej Palat.
Meier extended the lead to 3-0 early in the second period with a power-play goal.
Wild’s Response
Vanecek denied Connor Dewar on a breakaway midway through the second period, but Kaprizov scored a power-play goal to cut the Devils’ lead to 3-1. Rossi made it 3-2 just over a minute into the third period by knocking in the rebound of a Matt Boldy shot.
