NEWARK, NEW JERSEY – OCTOBER 22: Brenden Dillon #5 of the New Jersey Devils celebrates with Dawson Mercer #91 of the New Jersey Devils after scoring a goal during the second period of a NHL game against the Minnesota Wild at Prudential Center on October 22, 2025 in Newark, New Jersey. (Photo by Andrew Mordzynski/Getty Images) Getty Images
To say the New Jersey Devils have struggled on short rest in recent seasons is more than a bit of an understatement.
The Devils were just 6-19-3 in the second half of back-to-back games the past two years.
So this was a chance – much like securing their first four-game winning streak in two years with a win over Edmonton last Saturday – to show these Devils are different, and they did not disappoint.
Paul Cotter, Brendan Dillon, Arseny Gritsyuk, and Jesper Bratt all scored goals, and Nico Daws made 29 saves as the Devils won their sixth straight on Wednesday night, 4-1 over Minnesota in front of 16,434 at Prudential Center.
The Devils had relied heavily on their top six in the previous five wins but Wednesday night it was their depth that beat the Wild.
With Jack Hughes and Nico Hischier held off the scoresheet, the Devils got some much needed scoring from their third line, which had Dawson Mercer centering Cotter and Connor Brown.
Cotter picked up his first of the season at 16 minutes, 21 seconds of the first by jumping on a loose puck that had rolled off Brown’s stick at the side of the net to give the Devils a 1-0 lead.
They increased the lead to 2-0 on Dillon’s second of the season, and second game-winner in as many nights – a snap shot from the point that beat Wild goalie Filip Gutavsson over the glove at 6:08 of the second.
It was just the third time in his career that Dillon had goals in back-to-back games. His winner on Tuesday in Toronto snapped a 53-game goal drought.
Gritsyuk made it 3-0 with his first career NHL goal at 4:03 of the second, scoring on the power play off a Timo Meier faceoff win.
Matt Boldy beat Daws over the shoulder with a wrist shot from the hash marks midway through the third, but that would be it for the Wild.
Bratt added an empty netter to seal the win with 1:17 left.
The Wild entered the game with the league’s best power play, but went 0-for-3 on Wednesday.
The Devils have killed off 21 straight and are sitting at 96.0% for the season after blanking Minnesota. That’s second overall behind the Winnipeg Jets (96.3).
Daws was, at times, the Devils best penalty killer. He made a nice save on Boldy late in the second with Luke Hughes off for interference, and with Hughes off for a second, very questionable, interference call late in the third, Daws came up with big saves on Joel Eriksson Ek, Ryan Hartman, and former Devil Marcus Johansson.
The Devils will have another chance to show they’re a much different team this season when they host the San Jose Sharks on Friday night. San Jose (0-4-2) is still searching for its first win this season, and the Sharks will be playing the second half of a back-to-back, as they have the Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Thursday.
These are the kinds of games that good teams win. It’ll be interesting to see if the Devils display a killer instinct that’s been missing the last few years.
So what did you make of tonight’s game? This team is giving off very similar vibes to the 2022-23 team. They can beat teams with their star power. They seem way deeper up front than they did the past two years. Allen and Daws, at least tonight, have been rock solid. It’s real, real early but it’s hard not to be excited about this team.