Devils, Wild Complete Home-and-Home Series | PREVIEW

NEW JERSEY DEVILS (39-29-7) vs. MINNESOTA WILD (41-28-5)

New Jersey finishes a home-and-home against Minnesota at Prudential Center Monday night. Puck drop is 7:08 p.m. ET.

You can watch on MSGSN or listen on the Devils Hockey Network.

Read below for your game preview and pre-game story below. Tonight's game is presented by Warren, Thompson & Son.

MORNING SKATE RECAP

NEWARK, NJ - The Devils held a morning skate Monday morning ahead of hosting the Minnesota Wild.

Luke Hughes and Cody Glass were not present on the ice. Hughes missed one of the last two games with a groin injury, but did play last Saturday against the Wild on the road. Glass (undisclosed) has been out of the lineup for the past three games.

Judging from the team’s workflow at the morning skate, it appears that Curtis Lazar will re-enter the lineup in place of Nolan Foote. Defenseman Dennis Cholowski manned the position for Luke, though the Devils expect Hughes to be in the lineup.

“He’s improving and better today than he’s been,” head coach Sheldon Keefe said of Luke. “Just more maintenance and keeping him ready for tonight.”

It appears Jacob Markstrom, who made 22 saves in a win Saturday at Minnesota, will get the start in net.

The Devils used the following workflow…

Rematch

The Devils are facing the Minnesota Wild for the second time in three days in a home-and-home series. New Jersey picked up a 5-2 victory in the previous matchup. But both teams are fighting for a playoff berth.

The Devils are 10 points from officially clinching and have an eight-point lead on the NY Rangers for the third spot in the Metro Division. But Minnesota is currently tied with St. Louis for the two Wild Card positions in the Western Conference and their status is a little more precarious.

“We know they’re going to come in pretty hot,” forward Stefan Noesen said. “They’re a good team. They’re big and strong. They’re in a playoff picture for a reason too. Anytime you can go up against another playoff team, it’s always fun, always enjoyable. You just have to rise to the occasion.”

For the Devils, beating a good team once is noteworthy. But beating a good team twice in a row is a real test.

“Doing something once is something anyone can do but now they’re coming in a little more desperate than last game,” forward Jesper Bratt said. “They want to give it back to us. They want to get one in our building.

“We have to match our level of intensity and our level of desperation that we had last game.”

The Devils need to be wary of being too confident coming off their victory two nights ago.

“It’s easier to pull together and grind it out on the road. At home you tend to get a little more confident and sometimes that can lead to not being as assertive,” Keefe said. “We need to change that. We’ve been battling that for far too long. I’m hopeful that our game the other night, we can enjoy that feeling and recognition of how that can give us a chance to compete against anybody on any night and we bring it here to the building in New Jersey starting tonight.”

Home Stretch

The Devils game against Minnesota will be the first of a five-game homestand. And after the Minnesota game, the club will have four days without a game.

“We have a really good schedule going into the last part of the season,” Bratt said. “For us, playing five out of six games at home, gives us a really good feeling here playing on home ice for some exciting games later on is huge.”

THE SCOOP

The Devils and Wild meet for the a second half of a home-and-home series. The Devils picked up a 5-2 victory in Minnesota on Saturday night on the strength of captain Nico Hischier's second career hat trick.

The contest against Minnesota marks the beginning of a five-game homestand for New Jersey, which holds an eight-point lead for the No. 3 spot in the Metro Division. The Devils magic number to clinch a playoff berth is 10.

Jack Hughes is out the rest of the season after undergoing shoulder surgery. Defensemen Dougie Hamilton and Jonas Siegenthaler remain out for the remainder of the regular season. On Friday night, Luke Hughes was held out for precautionary reasons, dealing with a lower-body injury, but he returned Saturday night against Minnesota.

The Minnesota Wild hold the first Wild Card spot in the West with 87 points and are fighting for position with the St. Louis Blues, who also have 87 points but have played one more game. Minnesota is six points behind the Colorado Avalanche for third in the Central Division.

Minnesota has had a slew of significant injuries of their own this season. They have been without star forward Kirill Kaprizov since Jan. 26. Kaprizov had 52 points (23g-29a) in 37 games before sustaining his injury. Matt Boldy has led the way offensively in his absence, pacing the team with 24 goals, 38 assists and 62 points.

WHO’S HOT

Devils: Hischier posted his second career hat trick with three goals against Minnesota Saturday. He has points in nine of his last 10 games with seven goals and 13 points. He posted an eight-game scoring streak in that stretch.

Wild: Matt Boldy runs the course for the Wild over the past five games; he leads the Wild in points (6), goals (3), and assists (3).

INJURIES

Devils: J.Hughes (shoulder, LTIR), Siegenthaler (undisclosed, LTIR), Hamilton (undisclosed, week-to-week), Glass (undisclosed)

Wild: Chisholm (undisclosed, day-to-day), Eriksson Ek (lower-body, IR), Kaprizov (lower-body, IR), Grosenick (IR-Non Roster)

REGULAR-SEASON RESULTS

• March 29 at Minnesota, W 5-2
• March 30 at New Jersey

GAME NOTES

• Devils captain Nico Hischier has 169 career goals and ranks eighth all-time in franchise history. He trails Pat Verbeek (170) for seventh.
• Hischier's 33 goals this season are a career high.
• Jesper Bratt has 86 points on the season, which currently ranks as the ninth all-time (Kirk Muller, 1989-90) for points in a single season in Devils history.
• Stefan Noesen notched a new career high in assists with 38, besting his 37 from last season in Carolina.