Wild at Devils
Zach Parise's decision to sign a 13-year contract with the Minnesota Wild in July 2012 is looking smarter by the day as he leads his team into Thursday night's game at the New Jersey Devils - where he played for the first seven seasons of his career. Parise will play in New Jersey for the first time since signing with the Wild, who hold a five-point lead over Phoenix for the top wild card in the Western Conference. Minnesota breezed to a 4-0 victory over the visiting Devils on Nov. 3.
New Jersey is fading from the postseason picture and needs to take advantage of a stretch of four straight home games against playoff contenders, starting with Thursday's matchup. The Devils opened the five-game homestand with a 4-2 loss to Boston that extended their losing streak to three games and dropped them five points behind Columbus for the second wild card in the East. "Our effort is just not at the right point for the urgency that we need to make that push toward the playoffs," goaltender Martin Brodeur said.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, FSN North Plus (Minnesota), MSG Plus (New Jersey)
ABOUT THE WILD (36-23-10): While Parise's return was termed "old news" by Devils coach Peter DeBoer, one player who can relate to such a homecoming is Matt Moulson, who was acquired from the Buffalo Sabres at the trade deadline. Moulson scored two goals and assisted on another to help Minnesota break out of a slump with a 6-0 drubbing at the New York Islanders on Tuesday night. "I was here for a long time and this team had a big place in my heart," said Moulson, who spent four-plus seasons with New York before he was traded to Buffalo in late October. "The fans are great supporters. It was pretty emotional."
ABOUT THE DEVILS (29-27-13): DeBoer admitted he was surprised and disappointed by the recent play of New Jersey, which has been outscored 12-5 in the three-game skid. "When I look at those games I think we've fallen behind in each of them and rather than do what we've done all year, which is rely on our team game to get us back into games, we've turned into individuals and tried to do it individually," DeBoer said. "For us, that doesn't work." Not much has been working of late for goaltender Cory Schneider, who has been lit up for 15 goals in his last three starts but will be in net versus the Wild.
OVERTIME
1. The Wild have won the last three meetings with New Jersey, allowing a total of three goals
2. Schneider is 6-5-1 with a 2.21 goals-against average versus Minnesota.
3. Parise, who served as a captain with the Devils, has 18 points in his last 15 games.