Devils Put Away Wild in Shootout Win

Published: Tuesday, April 1, 2025

by Michael Bellifemini

NEWARK, N.J. – The New Jersey Devils (40-29-7) earned their second consecutive win over the Minnesota Wild (41-28-6), winning 3-2 in a shootout Monday night.

The Devils followed up their 5-2 win in St. Paul on Saturday by scoring the first goal of the night in the opening period despite early pressure from the Wild. Luke Hughes ripped a shot from the circle past Filip Gustavsson for his seventh goal of the season, making it 1-0.

That opening tally by Hughes remained the only goal of the game going into the third period after solid goaltending from both Gustavsson and Jacob Markstrom, who helped kill off a couple of penalties on each side.

Then, early in the third period, Minnesota tied it at 1 after Vinnie Hinostroza redirected a shot from the point by Jake Middleton past Markstrom.

New Jersey immediately answered with a shot from Brett Pesce that deflected off Filip Gustavsson’s blocker and appeared to have gone over the goal line on his back for a strange go-ahead goal.

However, after a review, it was determined that the puck never fully crossed the goal line, so the score remained even until Stefan Noesen intercepted a pass and set up a goal for Nico Hischier about halfway through the period. It was Hischier’s 34th goal of the season, adding to his career high and his fourth goal against the Wild after his hat trick on Saturday.

From there, the Devils tried to lock it down and get another win in regulation against this playoff-caliber Wild team, but Minnesota found the equalizer with 2:08 to play after Matt Boldy picked up the puck in front of the net off a fortunate bounce, sending the game to overtime.

In overtime, Nico Hischier found Paul Cotter cross-ice for the game-winner, but for the second time in the game, the goal was disallowed, this time for offsides, as Hischier just barely missed keeping the puck in the offensive zone.

The game remained tied through five minutes of overtime, leading to a shootout in which the Devils eventually defeated the Wild to secure the extra point. Paul Cotter and Jesper Bratt scored in the first two frames for New Jersey, while Markstrom stopped Mats Zuccarello and received help from the post on Matt Boldy’s attempt to win the shootout, 2-0.

The Devils are now 10 points above the playoff cutline as they inch closer to clinching a spot. With just six games remaining in the regular season, five are at home, including their next game Saturday against the New York Rangers at 12:30 p.m. for a Hudson River Rivalry matinee.

Michael Bellifemini is an Assistant Sports Director and can be reached at michael.bellifemini@student.shu.edu. 

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