New Jersey's record improves to 6-2-1.

The New Jersey Devils kicked off their four-game road trip with a 5-3 victory over the Minnesota Wild. Alexander Holtz, Michael McLeod, Timo Meier, Jesper Bratt, and Dougie Hamilton all scored, and in total, 10 of New Jersey's skaters found their names on the scoresheet.

Bratt extended his point streak to eight games (seven goals, 11 assists), and Meier extended his point streak to six games (two goals, six assists). Rookie defenseman Luke Hughes has quietly strung together his own four-game point streak. The 20-year-old has collected six assists in that duration.

With Nico Hischier out of the lineup with an upper-body injury, McLeod continued to play on the second line while Chris Tierney centered the fourth line. The latter played in his 600th career NHL game Thursday night.

Kirill Kaprizov, Marco Rossi, and Jake Middleton scored for Minnesota.

The Devils' power play continued to take center stage as the team scored three goals on the man advantage. It marked the sixth time this season that New Jersey earned multiple power-play goals in a game.

"Right now, they're making a lot of great plays, a lot of great opportunities," head coach Lindy Ruff said. "The zone time has been really good. The entries have been good. When you need a big goal, we've been able to get it. Late in the game we needed a little bit of space and again the power play got it done."

Five Things

1. Jesper Bratt's Four-Point Night

For the first time in his career, the Swede celebrated a four-point night (one goal, three assists). He has 18 points in nine games (seven goals, 11 assists), which places him as the third-highest point-earner in the league behind Jack Hughes and Elias Pettersson.

After the game, Ruff spoke about what improvements he has seen from Bratt this season.

"He's skating extremely well. His small-ice play, his turn-ups, his evasiveness when people are closing in on him has been really good," Ruff said. "And he's shooting the puck extremely well."

2. Depth Players Step Up

The Devils' depth players were the ones who got things started for their team. Holtz earned his third goal of the season less than four minutes into the game when he was on the ice with McLeod and Nate Bastian. The latter would be credited with the lone assist, his first point of the season.

Before the conclusion of the opening frame, McLeod would score on a tip-in.

"It's easy when you have guys like Bratt and Palat that can make those plays at the blue line," McLeod said. "It's getting more space for them, like I was saying this morning. Getting to the net. They made a great play, and it was a pretty easy goal from there."

The Mississauga native is having a solid start to the season and has not looked out of place since taking Nico Hischier's spot in the team's top six.

"We needed a guy to fill in for Nico. (McLeod) stepped in and doing a great job," Ruff said.

3. "We're Interchangeable"

What else can be said about the Devils' power play?

New Jersey has scored on the man advantage in eight of their first nine games. The Devils continue to have the top power play in the league, with a power play percentage of 44.7.

"Right now, we're in a position where all of us are in a different spot than we normally set up, and that's what makes us successful," Bratt said. "We have a lot of threats on the ice. We are interchangeable."

4. Another Game, Another Impressive Jack Hughes Stat

Per NHL Pr, "Jack Hughes (five goals, 15 assists, 20 points in nine games) became the third player in the past 25 years with 20 points before his 10th game of a season, following Leon Draisaitl (20 in 2021-22) and Mario Lemieux (20 in 2002-03)."

Hughes continues to lead the league in points and assists.

5. New Jersey Needs to Tread Carefully

"Challenges make you discover things about yourself that you never really knew."

The Devils must be learning a lot about themselves this season because they never seem to make it easy on themselves. Minnesota almost mounted a comeback in the third period, pulling within one goal twice.

In eight of their nine games this season, New Jersey has given up at least three goals to their opponent. The success of their power play has been able to bail them out and help secure a win. Cleaning up defensively will be an area the coaching staff will continue to work on as their goaltenders look to tighten up their game.