Takeaways: Devils roll to 5-2 victory in Wild’s first ‘Hughes Bowl’

The Wild’s debut in the “Hughes Bowl” was a dud.

Younger brothers Jack and Luke will hold onto bragging rights over Wild defenseman Quinn Hughes after the Devils won 5-2 on Monday, Jan. 12, at Grand Casino Arena in only the third ever matchup between the three siblings.

“We definitely had our chances,” Quinn Hughes said. “Just obviously not the third we wanted and not the result we wanted.”

Ondrej Palat’s 1-1 tiebreaker with 8 seconds to go in the second period for the Devils doomed the Wild, who were fighting the puck all night en route to a second consecutive loss.

Until a last-minute power play goal by Marcus Foligno, the Wild capitalized only on a deflection by Ryan Hartman during a marathon shift by Hughes and Brock Faber, who threw the puck on net for the redirect for the equalizer after the Wild fell behind first.

But the Devils routed the Wild in the third period after that late go-ahead goal, scoring three times — including two in 21 seconds for Jesper Bratt on the same shift. Palat also added another.

“We just weren’t as sharp as we needed to be,” Wild coach John Hynes said.

“Hopefully something we can build on,” Jack Hughes said.

In a separate showdown, between two of Sweden’s Olympic goaltenders, Jacob Markstrom had 20 saves compared to 24 for the Wild’s Jesper Wallstedt; the other goalie named to Sweden’s roster, Filip Gustavsson, was on the Wild bench.

Dating back before Christmas, the Wild are winless in their past four games on home ice. Their last victory in St. Paul was Dec. 20 vs. Edmonton.

“If we try to do a little more, get more to Markstrom, we would have had more rebounds, more chances,” Foligno said. “Then [make] their guys turn around and get lost in the D zone.”

Although the Wild scored three in an overtime loss to the Islanders two nights earlier, they lamented their lack of execution … but the Wild had an even tougher time finishing against New Jersey.

“If you sat there and complained every time you shot it and it didn’t go in, you’d have a long, frustrating career,” Boldy said. “It is what it is. Unfortunately, they didn’t go in.”

At 10:07 of the first, Dawson Mercer buried a behind-the-net pass from Nico Hischier to give New Jersey a 1-0 lead.

The Wild’s aim wasn’t much better in the second, with a glaring shot through the crease by Vladimir Tarasenko after two Wild players passed off shots.

Finally, during 1:58 shifts for Faber and Hughes that included Hughes exiting the offensive zone for a regroup, Faber’s shot was tipped in by Hartman at 13:41 for Hartman’s third goal in his past four games. Faber’s assist extended his point streak to five games.

“I just knew they were tired,” Hughes said. “I felt it was a moment I could press. That’s all I was trying to do, make sure they didn’t really change and keep applying pressure.”

Hischier passed to the front of the net where Palat pounced on the puck for a last-minute goal in the second to reclaim momentum for New Jersey, which was playing its second game in two days.

“That’s my fault there,” Foligno said, “and late goals sting everyone in this league. That’s not a great goal to give up. It’s just one of those things, long shift; we got caught out there.

“You’re trying to stay back and just probably better off turn to change. Would like to have that one back. That was kind of a stinger for us.”

The Devils ran away from the Wild in the third, beginning with a goal off the rush for Bratt at 7:28.

Bratt stayed on the ice and for an encore, tipping in the puck with his back toward the net only 21 seconds later. Palat polished off the blitz at 9:39 by burying a slam-dunk pass from Mercer after the puck got away from Quinn Hughes.

With 19 seconds to go, Foligno wired in a rebound on the power play, which finished 1-for-2; New Jersey went 0-for-2.

BOXSCORE: New Jersey 5, Wild 2

NHL standings

The Wild had 39 shots miss the net or get blocked by the Devils.

Like the 4-3 overtime loss to the Islanders, the Wild had more than enough chances to win.

It’d be more worrisome if the Wild weren’t generating looks, but it’s also rare to see them struggle to score like this.

“This is just sometimes how it goes,” Foligno said, “and you gotta fight through it.”