The New Jersey Devils entered Wednesday night’s game against the Minnesota Wild on a high they haven’t experienced in quite some time: their first five-game series in more than 1,000 days. The task was big, but they persevered and recorded a sixth straight win by playing a near-perfect 60 minutes. winning 4-1.
Related: Devils win 6th game in a row with 4-1 victory over Wild
Arseny Gritsyuk’s first NHL goal
If you’ve watched the past few Devils games, you would have guessed based on his play that Arseny Gritsyuk’s first NHL goal would come very soon. Just three seconds into the Devils’ power play in the third period, he fired a quick shot through Filip Gustavsson. Luke Hughes made sure to get the puck so Gritsyuk will have the memento for the rest of his life. The Prudential Center went crazy for the fan favorite when they announced his goal.
Arseny Gritsyuk buries his first NHL goal on the power play! 💪 pic.twitter.com/b4cyE60L4Y
— NHL (@NHL) October 23, 2025
“There’s going to be a lot more for him,” forward Dawson Mercer said. “I played [with] black tape, and then I saw it had black tape, so I was happy when it went in,” he added with a laugh.
Keefe said: “This is just a complete hockey player. He’s good defensively, he works hard, he’s strong, good in possession, smart, can read very well. He’s a really good and useful player for us on a day like today. [with Cody Glass out]you can increase it. He has brought a lot to our lower lines, so great to see him rewarded and score a goal.”
Improvement with back-to-back battles
Over the past two seasons, the Devils had struggled mightily in the second half of back-to-backs – to the tune of a 6-19-3 record. They often admitted that it was a mental block.
According to one ESPN article from 2024the leaguewide points percentage in the second half of a back-to-back is still 0.507%. The difference should not be nearly as large as it has been for the Devils in recent seasons (0.268%). So it’s huge that the Devils hit the ground running right away, especially against a tough Wild team.
“It’s back to back. [Minnesota] know that and they’ll probably think it’s easy to get in here,” forward Paul Cotter said. “And I think we were a little bit more prepared than they thought. You know, if we stick to our game like that, it’s going to be hard to beat us.”
In 2022-2023, the Devils were one a lot of better 9-3-0 at the end of those sets. It’s a big ask, but if they can get even close to that, they should be fighting for the top spot in the Metro.
Nico Daws shines
The Devils will have to rely heavily on Jake Allen for the foreseeable future. In the meantime, the team hopes Nico Daws can take some of the load from their veteran netminder until Markstrom returns from injury.
Tonight, in Daws’ first start of the season, he stopped 29 of 30 (0.967%) for +2.03 goals above expectations (via MoneyPuck), which brings his total since last season to +1.30 per 60 in 322 minutes of play.
It’s obviously a small sample size, but no regular goalkeeper in the league last season (15+ games) had a rating higher than +0.78 per 60 (Anthony Stolarz, Toronto). Last season was special: Daws achieved much better numbers in the NHL than the American Hockey League (AHL). The Devils certainly won’t complain if that happens again.
“I don’t know enough firsthand about what’s going on out there at the AHL level, but he’s done a good job here,” head coach Sheldon Keefe said. “I think our boys have simplified the game well (…), which maybe suits him, and it’s more structured. The boys have defended him well, but at the same time I can remember numerous times between tonight and last season where we were unlucky and he had to come up with a big save at an important moment, and he did that. So obviously I’m most concerned about what happens when he’s here and in our net, and he’s done a good job.”
Car status?
Their win tonight marks the first six games for the team since their miraculous 13-game stretch in 2022, which lasted from October 25 through November. 21…1,066 days ago. It’s probably time to say this officially cements the Devils as a wagon… but even if you don’t want to go that far, it puts them in a much better position for long-term success in 2025-2026.
Come on
The Devils will look to extend their streak on Friday night (October 24) when they take on the league’s worst San Jose Sharks (7:00 PM EDT).
#Lessons #Devils #Sixth #Consecutive #Win #Beat #Wild #Hockey #Writers #Jersey #Devils #Latest #News #Analysis