Tyler Toffoli scored the tying goal and Erik Haula netted the go-ahead tally within a 44-second span early in the second period for the New Jersey Devils, who held off a late comeback bid by the Minnesota Wild to earn a 4-3 win on Sunday night in Newark, N.J.
Jesper Bratt opened and closed the scoring for the Devils, who have won four of their last five games (4-1-0). Goalie Vitek Vanecek made 31 saves, including a stop of a six-on-four shot by Kirill Kaprizov that preserved the win with seven seconds left.
Pat Maroon, Ryan Hartman and Jake Middleton scored for the Wild, who have lost three straight games (0-2-1). Goalie Marc-Andre Fleury recorded 26 saves.
The Devils took the lead 6:13 into the first, when Bratt took a cross-ice pass from John Marino and fired a shot past Fleury, who was screened by Middleton as well as Devils center Michael McLeod.
An impressive effort by Maroon led to his game-tying goal almost nine minutes later. Jonas Brodin’s clearing pass skipped through the neutral zone and Maroon managed to corral the puck while being hooked by Brendan Smith. Maroon maintained control and used a deflection off his skate to send a forehand past Vanecek with 5:07 left in the first.
The Wild took a short-lived lead 2:31 into the second with a power-play goal just eight seconds after Haula was penalized for hooking. Calen Addison’s shot bounced off Devils right winger Nathan Bastian and bounced to Hartman, who tucked the rebound into the left corner of the net.
Hartman was whistled for slashing to generate the power play that led to the Devils’ game-tying goal fewer than four minutes later, when Bratt fed Toffoli in front of the net for a chip-in at the 6:10 mark.
A Wild turnover led to Haula’s unassisted tiebreaking goal. Addison’s pass to Vinni Lettieri glanced off Lettieri’s stick and to Haula, who fired a slap shot over Fleury’s glove.
The Devils extended their lead to 4-2 with another power-play goal with 3:21 left in the period, as Bratt scored past a sprawling Fleury.
The Wild pulled within one with 4:43 remaining in the third. Maroon skated around the back of the net and passed into the crease, where Middleton got a stick on the puck and put a shot under Vanecek’s stick arm.
–Field Level Media
