The Devils have an all-time record of 15-9-2-3 versus the Wild.
The New Jersey Devils will host the Minnesota Wild at Prudential Center on Sunday evening. Puck drop is scheduled for 5:00 P.M. Neither team held a morning skate, and Devils head coach Lindy Ruff will speak with the media at 3:00 P.M.
The Devils earned a 0-0-2 record versus the Wild last season and have not won a season series against the Wild since the 2016-17 season. Jesper Bratt has five points (one goal, four assists) in eight games versus Minnesota.
Devils vs Wild - Prudential Center
New Jersey will look to finish the first month of the season with a victory, improving upon their 4-2-1 record. Entering tonight's game, Jack Hughes has five multi-point games this season, tied with Elias Pettersson of the Vancouver Canucks for first among all NHL skaters.
Head coach Lindy Ruff confirmed that Justin Dowling, who was recalled from the Utica Comets, will be a game-time decision, meaning it will either be him or Chris Tierney jumping into the lineup in the absence of Hischier.
Erik Haula will face the team that selected him 182nd overall at the 2009 NHL Entry Draft. He appeared in 266 games for the Wild, collecting 89 points (42 goals, 47 assists). He will face his former club for the 10th time Sunday evening and has scored two goals and added three assists for five points against Minnesota.
- The Devils injury report includes Nico Hischier (upper-body), Tomas Nosek (lower-body, IR), and Colin Miller (lower-body).
- The Wild injury report includes Jared Spurgeon (upper-body), Matt Boldy (upper-body), Alex Goligoski (lower-body), Freddy Gaudreau (upper-body), and Mason Shaw (knee)
- Per the media notes, Timo Meier enters Sunday's game riding a four-game point streak (one goal, five assists). His longest assist streak for a single season is five games, which he earned with San Jose from Nov. 5 to Nov. 14, 2019.
- Jon Merrill is expected to be in the lineup for the Wild. He was selected by New Jersey 38th overall in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft and appeared in 216 games for the Devils before being selected in the NHL Expansion Draft by the Vegas Golden Knights.
Projected Lineup
New Jersey:
Tyler Toffoli - Jack Hughes - Timo Meier
Ondrej Palat - Dawson Mercer - Jesper Bratt
Chris Tierney - Erik Haula - Curtis Lazar
Alexander Holtz - Michael McLeod - Nathan Bastian
Jonas Siegenthaler - Dougie Hamilton
Kevin Bahl - John Marino
Brendan Smith - Luke Hughes
Akira Schmid/Vitek Vanecek
Minnesota:
Kirill Kaprizov - Ryan Hartman - Mats Zuccarello
Marcus Johansson - Joel Eriksson Ek - Pat Maroon
Marcus Foligno - Marco Rossi - Vinni Lettieri
Brandon Duhaime - Connor Dewar
Jonas Brodin - Brock Faber
Jacob Middleton - Dakota Mermis
Jon Merrill - Calen Addison
Marc-Andre Fleury
Watch & Listen: Tonight's game will be broadcast on MSGSN. Bill Spaulding will handle play-by-play alongside analyst Ken Daneyko and host Erika Wachter. Fans can also listen on the Devils Hockey Network with Matt Loughlin on play-by-play.