Devils' 5-2 Win vs. Wild: Hamilton Gets His Revenge

Against all odds, Dougie Hamilton had his best game of the 2025-26 season en route to the New Jersey Devils' 5-2 win over the Wild.

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Hockey is a weird sport, but that’s what can make it fun. Against all odds, the New Jersey Devils came away with an impressive 5-2 win over Quinn Hughes and the Minnesota Wild to cap off a difficult four-game road trip.

I say against all odds because it’s been a chaotic 48 hours for the organization, one that they created for themselves. The Devils healthy scratched Dougie Hamilton ahead of their game against the Winnipeg Jets on Sunday. But wouldn’t you know it, he had his best game of the season against the Wild.

Hamilton’s Revenge

I’m sure everyone has caught the Hamilton news over the last couple of days, but here’s a little refresher. The Devils decided to scratch Hamilton since Johnathan Kovacevic returned to the lineup, now that they have one too many right-handed shots on defense.

That led to a stern response from Hamilton’s agent, J.P. Barry, which Devils general manager Tom Fitzgerald followed with a response of his own, saying, “...This is simply Dougie being the odd-man out with where our right-side is- fully healthy for the first time all year. This is business. Business of our lineup.”

I don’t think the Devils’ front office or Sheldon Keefe will ever admit it; Keefe said Hamilton was solid yesterday, which...come on. But Hamilton is still one of the team’s three best right-handed defensemen. You could even argue he’s still the best, despite the point totals not being there this season.

Hamilton showed why that’s still the case, as he helped the Devils ice the game away in the third period. It started when Hamilton made a great feed to Bratt on a 2-on-1 (which Jack Hughes created) to give the Devils a 3-1 lead.

A couple of minutes later, Hamilton and Bratt connected again. This time, Bratt redirected a Hamilton point shot to give the Devils a 4-1 lead that they would not relinquish. Just like that, Hamilton had a multi-point game.

It was great to see Hamilton come through in an important game for the Devils, and you can tell Bratt was elated for him. He was smiling from ear to ear after scoring both of his goals and immediately went to Hamilton to celebrate. I’m sure it has not been an easy couple of days for Hamilton, so that was a nice reward for him.

To be honest, Hamilton has been due for an increase in production. He had an on-ice shooting percentage of 4.9 percent coming into yesterday’s game, well below where he’s been for most of his career.

Furthermore, he’s one of the few Devils who’s been above water in expected goals. He has an expected goals share (xG%) of 53.76 percent for the season and finished yesterday with an xG% of 69.71 percent.

The Devils will likely be a worse team once they trade him, although that’s highly dependent on what the return is. He’s still one of the team’s best defensemen, if not the best, and he should remain in the lineup until a trade comes to fruition.

Keefe’s Top-6 Changes Provide a Spark

I’m not sure what took so long, but Keefe finally made some changes to his line combos after a disappointing string of games. Most notably, Jack Hughes moved back to center, with Timo Meier and Bratt on his wings.

Ondřej Palát has been much-maligned this season, but Keefe still moved him back into the top six alongside Hischier and Dawson Mercer. The moves paid off, as both lines were quite good.

It started with the Hischier line, who combined for three of the team’s five goals. Hischier had one of his best games of the season and was an absolute dog on a bone.

On Mercer’s goal, Hischier made a great play behind the net to strip Brock Faber of the puck. He then set up Mercer for a one-timer in a high-danger area for the goal. Similarly, Hischier made a great play behind the net on Palát’s first goal, which came with six seconds remaining in the second period.

Even though Hischier didn’t collect an assist on Palát’s second goal, his hustle helped the loose puck get to Mercer, who fed Palát for a tap-in. The Devils ended up outscoring the Wild 3-0 when this trio was on the ice. That’ll do.

Meier, Hughes and Bratt have not always had chemistry, but I liked their game yesterday. They finished with an xG% of 57.97 percent and outshot the Wild 9-2 at five-on-five. Hughes has always been more effective at center, and this may be a sign he’s finally healthy from his non-hockey hand injury.

At least for one game, the Devils looked much more competent at five-on-five. They finished the night with an xG% of 56.31, led by strong performances from their top six. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that it came with Hughes back at center, so let’s see what comes next.

Doing that against a very good Wild team is notable, but it won’t mean anything if they lay an egg against the Seattle Kraken tomorrow.

Quick Hits

• Luke Hughes and Brett Pesce have been going through it as a pairing, but they had one of their best performances of the season against the Wild. Shot attempts were 19-6 in favor of the Devils when they were on the ice at five-on-five, and they controlled just over 76 percent of the expected goals. Hughes, in particular, had a strong game, especially in the offensive zone. He was activating and helped keep the Wild hemmed in their own end. The Devils need that from him much more often.

• The Wild missed the net on quite a few grade-A chances, especially early on, but Jacob Markström had a nice bounce-back performance after giving up nine goals to the New York Islanders last week. He made 20 saves and stopped 0.66 goals above expected. Hopefully, the Islanders game was an aberration because it did appear he was starting to turn a corner in his few prior starts.

• One reason Markström played well is that the team played a sound defensive game in front of him. They allowed just 1.67 expected goals at five-on-five, and they were getting in lanes to block shots. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that occurred with Hamilton, Pesce and Kovacevic in the lineup. Unfortunately, we probably won’t be seeing that much again since Hamilton is likely on his way out.

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