Hischier has hat trick, Devils top Wild 5-2

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Nico Hischier netted his second hat trick of the season as the New Jersey Devils defeated the Minnesota Wild 5-2 on Saturday.

Paul Cotter and Tomas Tatar also scored, with Jesper Bratt providing two assists. Jacob Markstrom made 22 saves for the Devils, who improved to 2-3-1 in their last six games.

For the Wild, Marcus Foligno and Ryan Hartman tallied the goals, while Filip Gustavsson stopped 28 shots in the loss. Minnesota has now dropped three of its last four games.

The Wild are currently tied with St. Louis for the top wild card spot in the Western Conference, holding a six-point lead over Vancouver. The Blues extended their winning streak to nine with a 2-1 victory over Colorado on Saturday.

After suffering a 4-0 defeat in Winnipeg the previous night, New Jersey bounced back quickly. Hischier opened the scoring just 29 seconds into the game, and Cotter added a goal before the six-minute mark to give the Devils a 2-0 lead.

Hischier extended the lead to 3-1 early in the third period, but Hartman responded just two minutes later for the Wild. Hischier completed his hat trick with a power-play goal at 5:10 of the third. The goal was his 33rd of the season, setting a new career high.

Foligno also registered an assist on Hartman’s goal and fought the Devils’ Jonathan Kovacevic for a Gordie Howe hat trick.

Hischier’s first goal of the night, coming just 29 seconds in, marked the fastest opening goal for New Jersey this season. Over his last 11 games, Hischier has accumulated 7 goals and 6 assists.

Minnesota ended a stretch of 11 home games with a 5-5-1 record. The Wild now head into a stretch with five of their final eight games on the road, where they are second in the NHL with 47 points (22-11-3).

The Devils nearly went up 3-1 just before the second-period buzzer. On a 3-on-1 break, Bratt’s shot looked to be headed for the net, but it struck the skate of Timo Meier, who was crossing the crease, and the puck deflected wide.

With two assists in the game, Bratt now has 15 this month, the most by a Devils player in a month since Scott Gomez recorded 16 in March 2004. Bratt has set a career-high with 66 assists this season.

**Up next:**

The Wild will visit New Jersey on Monday to complete the home-and-home series.