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New Jersey Devils: Zach Parise And The Minnesota Wild Are In Town

By Vincent Parise

NEWARK, NJ - FEBRUARY 09: Minnesota Wild left wing Zach Parise (11) battles New Jersey Devils right wing Kyle Palmieri (21) during the first period of the National Hockey League game between the New Jersey Devils and the Minnesota Wild on February 8, 2019 at the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ. (Photo by Rich Graessle/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
NEWARK, NJ - FEBRUARY 09: Minnesota Wild left wing Zach Parise (11) battles New Jersey Devils right wing Kyle Palmieri (21) during the first period of the National Hockey League game between the New Jersey Devils and the Minnesota Wild on February 8, 2019 at the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ. (Photo by Rich Graessle/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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The New Jersey Devils are hosting their old captain as he and the Minnesota Wild are trying to keep them from winning two in a row.

The New Jersey Devils are back in action tonight against an old friend. Former Devils captain Zach Parise and his Minnesota Wild will come to the Prudential Center to play the Devils. It is an intriguing matchup as two teams who are looking to go on a good run face off. The Wild are struggling as they have an older roster, but they look to have a good showing in New Jersey.

Parise is having a pretty good start for the Wild with all things considered. He is no longer one of the best goal scorers in the NHL but he is still getting some good production in for being 35 years old. He has nine goals and three assists for 12 points in 24 games. He isn’t getting assists at a rate that he once did but he can still score goals at a decent pace. He will be looking to get the Wild on track against his former team.

The Wild are playing this game as the second half of a back to back. They were at Madison Square Garden last night and lost to the New York Rangers in overtime. Devan Dubnyk is away from the team dealing with a personal matter so Alex Stalock was in net for their loss last night. Kaapo Kahkonen will make his NHL debut in net against the Devils.

The Devils are coming off a big win over the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday. They played a strong game and won 5-1 and saw all of their top scorers have a good game. They are going to be looking to sort of replicate that performance against the Wild. The Wild are similar to the Red Wings in terms of being a team that has a roster that is going to lead them to be a bottom ten team. The Devils are a bottom ten team too but most believe that they are underachieving. If the Devils can take care of the Wild that will be their second win in a row with a somewhat favorable schedule coming up.

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If the New Jersey Devils are going to win this game they are going to need to figure out a way to turn up the pace. The Wild stay back and protect the house because they don’t have enough skill upfront. If the Devils can force them to play fast in transition they might be able to make it hard on the rookie netminder. Guys like Taylor Hall, Jack Hughes, and Nico Hischier are going to be major factors in this happening.

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