Nico Hischier's second career hat trick propelled the New Jersey Devils to a 5-2 victory over the Minnesota Wild on Saturday night. Depth forwards Tomas Tatar and Paul Cotter also scored in the victory. Goaltender Jacob Markstrommade 22 saves on 24 shots.
Hischier gave the Devils a 1-0 lead 29 seconds into the opening frame. It marked the captain's 31st goal of the season, which tied his career-high earned in a single season (2022-23). Per Devils' PR, the goal marked Hischier's 167th career goal. He officially passed Petr Sykora (166 goals) for the eighth most goals recorded in franchise history.
With his primary assist on Hischier's goal, Jesper Bratt improved to 65 assists on the season and 85 points in 2024-25. Stefan Noesen's secondary assist was his 38th point of the season; it marks a new career-high for the 32-year-old.
It took five minutes for Cotter to extend New Jersey's lead to 2-0. The 25-year-old is three points shy of matching his season-high of 25 goals.
Before the conclusion of the first period, Marcus Foligno pulled his team within one with his 12th of the 2024-25 campaign.
The score remained the same while emotions boiled over in the second period with a fight between Foligno and Johnathan Kovacevic.
Hischier scored his second of the night at the 3:13 mark of the third period. It marked his 32nd goal and a new career-high. It proved to be a crucial goal as Ryan Hartman scored two minutes later to bring the Wild within one with 14 minutes remaining in regulation.
Hischier celebrated his second career hat trick with his third goal of the night at the 14:50 mark of the third period. He is the second player in franchise history who scored a hat trick against the Wild, joining Jamie Langenbrunner.
Tatar secured the 5-2 win with his seventh goal of the season. It was a full-line effort as Ondrej Palat and Justin Dowling picked up the assists. Five of New Jersey's bottom-six players found their name on the scoresheet by the final horn.
"It isa huge win for us in the standings, but kind of a morale and emotional win," Kovacevic said to NJD.TV. "I think everyone bought in, everyone really dug in and came together. That is something hard to put into words but you can really feel it in the dressing ...
