Takeaways: Wild end five-game road swing with only three points after 4-1 loss to Devils

NEWARK, N.J. – If this was how dangerous the Devils were playing their second game in as many nights, imagine how much more of a handful they would have been to face if they were rested.

As is, the Wild had their fill, getting challenged by New Jersey in all three periods in a 4-1 loss Wednesday at Prudential Center that could have been more lopsided if not for an admirable effort by goaltender Filip Gustavsson.

“It’s like a playoff game against them,” Matt Boldy said.

The red-hot Devils stayed that way with their sixth straight win, while the Wild (3-4-1) will return home from this five-game road trip with a measly three points out of a possible 10 after winning just once.

Boldy’s third-period goal prevented the Wild from getting shut out for the first time this season, but New Jersey’s Nico Daws was otherwise unbeatable en route to 29 saves.

“You gotta make the right play always,” Boldy said, “and they make you pay for it when you don’t.”

Gustavsson finished with 31 saves, giving up only three goals (the fourth New Jersey goal was an empty-netter) despite the quantity and quality of the Devils’ chances.

After Gustavsson denied a breakaway for Jack Hughes, who had a hat trick in his team’s victory at Toronto on Tuesday and six goals in his previous three games, New Jersey doubled its lead on a point shot from Brenden Dillon through traffic at 6:08 of the second.

The Devils added another 4:53 into the third, with Arseny Gritsyuk burying a faceoff win on the power play for his first NHL goal.

Boldy spoiled Daws’ shutout bid at 10:37 on a slick rising shot around pressure after cutting to the middle. His five goals are tied with Kirill Kaprizov for first on the team.

With Gustavsson on the bench for an extra attacker, Jesper Bratt dumped the puck into an empty net with 1:17 to go.

“Obviously, Gus made some huge saves for us to keep it close there,” captain Jared Spurgeon said. “Yeah, just gotta find a way to create some more offense and get those timely goals.”

Their best attempt was from Ryan Hartman at the side of the net, but Daws batted the puck away with his blocker for his sharpest save of the night.

The Wild had one more power play in the third, but the Devils survived for their 21st straight penalty kill; they went 1-for-2 on the power play.

“The power play was indicative of most of the 5-on-5 play,” coach John Hynes said. “It was over-passing, not enough shooting and when the power play was going early, when you look at all the goals, they were shots, tips, rebounds in and around the net, and tonight we didn’t have a direct, shove-it-down-your throat mentality on the power play, and we didn’t get anything from it.”

After a 10-for-21 start, the Wild power play is in an 0-for-11 funk.

This was a tough trip for the Wild, starting with Central Division rival Dallas and ending with one of the top teams in the NHL in New Jersey, but it sure was telling.

The lineup juggling doesn’t help: They did get Marco Rossi back after a one-game absence due to a shot block, but Zach Bogosian left the trip early and had a procedure done on his lower-body injury.

“It’s always tough when you can’t play,” said Rossi, whose injury halted a streak of 173 consecutive games played.

Factor in the ongoing recoveries from surgery for Mats Zuccarello and Nico Sturm, and it’s fair to wonder if getting healthy is all the Wild need to stabilize.

But the mistakes that are hurting them are at odds with the identity the Wild want to have and if the Wild don’t stick to their structure, they’re in trouble.

“When we play a certain way, we’re a tough team to play against,” Hynes said. “We didn’t do that enough on this road trip.”