The New Jersey Devils will host the Minnesota Wild on Wednesday night at home. The Devils enter the game with a 5-1-0 record, having won five straight games after an opening loss to Carolina. This marks their first five-game winning streak since January 2023.
Jack Hughes has been a key player for New Jersey, scoring six goals in his last three games, including a hat trick on Tuesday night in Toronto. Jesper Bratt has also contributed, earning at least one point in each of the team’s six games so far this season, with three goals and five assists.
Goaltender Nico Daws is expected to make his season debut for the Devils, while forward Stefan Noesen may also play for the first time this season.
The Minnesota Wild come into the matchup with a 3-3-1 record, following a 3-1 win over the New York Rangers. The Wild are finishing a five-game road trip, holding a 1-2-1 record on the trip so far. Minnesota currently leads the league with a power play success rate of 34.5 percent, while New Jersey’s penalty kill ranks third overall. The Wild’s penalty kill has struggled, ranking 26th out of 32 teams with a 72.2 percent success rate.
Kirill Kaprizov leads the Wild with five goals and five assists for ten points in seven games. Matt Boldy has also contributed nine assists for Minnesota.
The Devils are dealing with several injuries, including Dadonov (hand), Kovacevic (knee), Noesen (groin), Casey (lower body), McLaughlin (undisclosed), Lammikko (undisclosed), MacEwen (upper body), and Markstrom (lower body). The Wild have Bogosian (lower body), Rossi (undisclosed), Sturm (back), and Zuccarello (lower body) on their injury list.
Jack Hughes’ two-goal performance against Toronto marked his 27th multi-goal game, moving him past Claude Lemieux and Stefan Richer for fifth most in franchise history. Hughes also recorded his 37th career three-point game against Edmonton, which is fifth among U.S.-born players by age 25, trailing only Jeremy Roenick, Jimmy Carson, Pat LaFontaine, and Mike Modano.
The Devils will face the Wild again on January 12 in Minnesota.
