Captain Hischier’s Hat Trick Drives Devils Past Wild, 5-2

In a bounce-back game for Jacob Markstrom, the Devils stunned a potential Stanley Cup contender in Minnesota.

This is not a usual game recap for me — because I did not watch much of the game as it happened (really, mostly just the first period: I was grilling!). But, given I do not see a recap up on the site today, let’s take a look at some of the stats and highlights from yesteday’s win over the Minnesota Wild.

First Period

The first period was an excellent start for the New Jersey Devils (though I did not see any of it), as their defense held the Wild offense to zero high-danger chances against. Still, on seven shots against, Jacob Markstrom gave up one, as the Devils took a 2-1 lead into the first intermission.

How did they get there? Nico Hischier got the scoring started — in the first minute of the game — for the Devils off a nice rush play where Jesper Bratt banked the puck off of Filip Gustavsson’s pad. The puck came right to Hischier, and he made no mistake to make it 1-0. This goal by Hischier marked the tying goal for his career-high in goals at 31 while he made this season his fourth-straight 60-point season (or better).

The Devils were quick to make it 2-0, as Daniel Sprong chased down a breakout from Kovacevic to make a play through the neutral zone to spring the Devils ahead. Brian Dumoulin shot the puck off Gustavsson’s pad, and Paul Cotter banked it in from a sharp angle! The Devils got a gift here, as it’s not often players score from that distance while at that angle.

It was not a perfect 20, though, as the pesky Marcus Foligno put a nasty deflection past Jacob Markstrom. This was a tip-of-the-cap goal, though you would have liked to see Cotter or Dillon on a perennial netfront presence in Foligno.

Second Period — Markstrom’s Moment

The teams started the second period at four-on-four because of coincidental minor penalties in the dying seconds of the first period, with Foligno going to the box for embellishing a cross-check from Kovacevic. There was no score this period, though the Devils controlled play again in the second. Jacob Markstrom, however, was the star of this period, as the Wild offense started to show signs of life. I can attest to this, as this was the period from which I started watching the game. But if you don’t believe me, take a look at his highlight reel from the period.

In total, Markstrom stopped 0.77 expected goals in the second period, facing six high-danger chances and nine total scoring chances. So, the chances were not many, but Markstrom had to deal with some tough ones. This was a huge story last night. Jacob Markstrom has not been himself since coming back from his knee injury, and he looked absolutely locked in during the game. If we are approaching those levels of reps where Markstrom gains his 1A-level of confidence, the Devils should have a much easier time over the last couple weeks of the season.

The Devils also had a nice penalty kill during this period. When Brian Dumoulin was boarded, Jacob Markstrom was run in his own crease, and Marcus Foligno dropped his gloves first in a fight with Johnny Kovacevic, Kovacevic received a minor penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct. Chris Rooney, famed NHL referee, had another excellent night against the New Jersey Devils, but his calls here did not tip the game in any way. The Devils completely shut the Wild power play down. We roll on.

Third Period — The Captain’s Hat Trick

Making the game 3-1 a few minutes into the period, Nico Hischier spun the puck away from the defensive blueline and split the middle down the neutral zone. Hischier went left on Jared Spurgeon, using him as a screen to snipe past Gustavsson! This goal by Hischier set his career-high in goals at 32.

Down two, the Wild started pushing harder. But, honestly, their second goal of the game was not a product of compete level as much as it was Jacob Markstrom missing the puck in his crease thanks to some hungry Wild forwards. Zach Bogosian fired a shot from the point off the iron and down, and Markstrom had a chance to turn back to dive over and cover the puck. But as Markstrom went to stick the puck to his own glove, Marcus Foligno trucked past Tomas Tatar, who lost his edge, knocking the puck through the paint to Ryan Hartman, who made it a 3-2 game.

The game went on, with the Devils crucially killing a penalty taken by Erik Haula, who tripped Yakov Trenin. The Wild, however, produced only 0.08 xG on this power play, despite a couple of long-range shots that made it on goal. The Devils did a great job of moving the rebounds quickly, and the Wild did not have the chance to break Markstrom down. The game slowed down for quite awhile after that penalty kill, with the Devils successfully preventing the Wild from hemming them in the defensive zone. Markstrom made a huge glove save around the mid-way point, while the Devils were still only up one.

The Devils finally got a power play when Stefan Noesen had the stick smacked out of his hands by Marcus Foligno as Noesen was guarding the point. With Luke Hughes back on the power play, Noesen went back to the second unit. Dawson Mercer had a nice chance to score at the side of the cage, but he was not strong enough to fight through a couple penalty killers to force the puck into the open net. The Devils kept moving, and Luke Hughes fired a shot off the glass that rebounded back to the goal. Nico Hischier, a step ahead, was the only one in the area with his eyes on the puck. He gloved it down and banked it off Gustavsson to score a hat-trick goal! His 33rd of the season put the Devils back up two goals, and the Wild looked deflated.

After the goal, the Devils continued to push against the Wild. With the third line out on the ice, Ondrej Palat whiffed on a scoring chance after Justin Dowling intercepted a breakout pass to create an opportunity for the Devils. However, the fanned-on puck was poked by Spurgeon right to Tomas Tatar, who ripped a shot off the bottle to make it 5-2! Tatar’s seventh goal of the season gives him 17 points, putting him just four away from the 500-mark for his career. Palat, who recently hit 500 career points, got his 13th apple of the season and his 27th point, while Justin Dowling received the well-deserved secondary assist for his sixth point of the season, tying a career-high.

The Devils, up three, did not have to worry about a final push from the Minnesota Wild. Both teams put on cruise control for the remainder of the matchup, and Jacob Markstrom earned his 24th win of the season and just his third since coming back from an injury. However, Markstrom is now back to a .900 save percentage on the season, and he is on a two-game win streak. It will be nice to leave his early March performances behind.

The Game Stats: The NHL.com Game Summary | The NHL.com Event Summary | The NHL.com Play by Play Log | The NHL.com Shot Summary | The Natural Stat Trick Game Stats

More Highlights: The NHL’s highlight package for the game is right here.

Keep This Lineup, Please

While teams are expected to tinker with lineups often at the end of the season, I think this is pretty much as good as it’s going to get for these Devils. Once Cody Glass returns to the team, Dowling or Foote can return to the press box. But for now, I liked the balance between the offensive and defensive players. None of the lines seemed like they had players that didn’t mix, and the Devils had their best offensive push in weeks as a result. They had 33 shots on goal! For a team that has been struggling to push to 20 or 25 shots in games, this was a great sight.

The more these lines build chemistry without Jack Hughes in the lineup, the better our playoff appearance will go. I still believe this team has enough contributors to surprise for a round — maybe long enough to get someone back from injured reserve. And yes, the Wild are not as desperate as recent teams have been, but they are still very good. Any win against a team like them is a good one in my book.

Now, the Devils look to tomorrow. Marc-Andre Fleury may be making his final appearance at the Prudential Center. And just like the Devils are thrilled to win in front of Jacob Markstrom, the Wild will be playing hard for Fleury, who is 1-3-0 with an .874 save percentage since the Four Nations break. The Wild will not be easy to beat twice, but efforts like last night will go a long way. From what I saw in the second and third periods, this was the most unified the team has looked since Jack got hurt.

Your Thoughts

What did you think of yesterday’s game? Are you looking forward to tomorrow? What was your favorite moment of the night? Will Nico hit 40 goals or 70 points this season? Leave your thoughts in the comments below, and thanks for reading.

And just a note for those cross-sport fans, but Aaron Judge, Captain of the New York Yankees, had a hat-trick of home runs yesterday afternoon. When was the last time the Devils and Yankees both had their Captains have hat-tricks on the same day? Has it ever happened before? Personally, I would not mind seeing it more often.