Game Recap: NJD 5, MIN 2, January 12, 2026

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Game Recap

NJD5

FinalMon, Jan 12, 2026Every game that night

MIN2

NJD beat MIN 5-2, with the chances close: 3.07 expected goals to 2.82. J. Bratt led the way with 2 points (2 G, 0 A). J. Markstrom stopped 21 of 23.

Scoring

	1st	2nd	3rd	T
NJD	1	1	3	5
MIN	0	1	1	2

1st 10:07NJDD. Mercer0.19 xG
2nd 13:41MINR. Hartman0.14 xG
2nd 19:52NJDO. Palat0.15 xG
3rd 7:28NJDJ. Bratt0.24 xG
3rd 7:49NJDJ. Bratt0.33 xG
3rd 9:39NJDO. Palat0.17 xG
3rd 19:41MINM. FolignoPP0.05 xG

Team Stats

NJDMIN

29Shots on goal23

3.07Expected goals2.82

57Shot attempts62

245v5 shots on goal19

0/2Power play1/2

18Hits16

19Blocked shots14

4Penalty minutes4

12Giveaways14

3Takeaways4

Expected goals: the chance each unblocked shot had of going in, by our model, added up.

Expected Goals Over the Game

NJD 3.07 xGMIN 2.82 xGGoal

Each step up is a shot: how likely it was to go in. A team well above the other had the better chances, whatever the score.

Shot Map

NJD29 on goal, 5 scored

MIN23 on goal, 2 scored

GoalSavedMissedBlockedBigger: a better chance

Box Score

NJD Skaters

Player	Pos	G	A	P	SOG	HIT	BLK	+/-	PIM	TOI	PP TOI
N. Hischier	C	0	2	2	2	0	1	+3	0	18:13	2:33
D. Mercer	C	1	1	2	1	1	1	+2	0	16:36	1:17
J. Bratt	LW	2	0	2	4	2	1	+2	0	15:42	1:55
O. Palat	LW	2	0	2	2	4	1	+2	0	14:36	0:00
J. Hughes	C	0	1	1	3	0	1	+2	0	19:04	2:31
T. Meier	RW	0	0	0	2	2	1	+1	0	18:12	1:51
C. Glass	C	0	0	0	1	2	1	0	0	16:31	1:59
C. Brown	RW	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	16:12	0:10
A. Gritsyuk	RW	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	15:19	1:56
E. Dadonov	LW	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	11:22	1:11
L. Glendening	C	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	2	10:20	0:10
P. Cotter	LW	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	9:31	0:13
D. Hamilton	D	0	2	2	2	0	2	+3	0	19:08	1:56
J. Siegenthaler	D	0	1	1	1	0	3	0	0	19:45	0:13
B. Dillon	D	0	1	1	2	2	3	+3	2	16:07	0:00
L. Hughes	D	0	0	0	3	0	0	+1	0	22:38	1:55
B. Pesce	D	0	0	0	2	0	1	+1	0	19:22	0:00
J. Kovacevic	D	0	0	0	1	2	2	0	0	19:19	0:10

Goalie	SA	SV	GA	SV%	TOI
J. Markstrom	23	21	2	.913	59:47	Win
J. Allen	0	0	0	–	0:00

MIN Skaters

Player	Pos	G	A	P	SOG	HIT	BLK	+/-	PIM	TOI	PP TOI
R. Hartman	RW	1	0	1	2	0	3	0	0	16:51	0:57
M. Johansson	LW	0	1	1	0	1	0	-1	0	16:17	0:44
M. Foligno	LW	1	0	1	3	3	0	-2	2	15:40	0:16
V. Hinostroza	C	0	1	1	1	0	0	-1	0	9:16	0:16
M. Boldy	LW	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	19:35	1:18
K. Kaprizov	LW	0	0	0	1	3	0	-2	0	18:59	1:16
M. Zuccarello	RW	0	0	0	0	0	1	-3	0	18:47	1:19
D. Yurov	RW	0	0	0	0	0	0	-1	0	15:06	0:41
N. Sturm	C	0	0	0	1	0	0	-2	0	13:22	0:00
V. Tarasenko	RW	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	12:40	1:03
Y. Trenin	C	0	0	0	0	4	0	0	0	11:57	0:16
B. Jones	C	0	0	0	1	1	1	0	0	8:39	0:16
B. Faber	D	0	1	1	4	0	2	-2	0	26:35	0:40
J. Brodin	D	0	1	1	2	0	1	-1	0	18:24	0:16
Q. Hughes	D	0	0	0	5	0	2	-2	2	26:06	1:19
J. Spurgeon	D	0	0	0	0	1	3	-1	0	18:05	0:41
J. Middleton	D	0	0	0	0	2	1	-2	0	16:04	0:01
D. Hunt	D	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	13:37	0:01

Goalie	SA	SV	GA	SV%	TOI
J. Wallstedt	29	24	5	.828	60:00	Loss
F. Gustavsson	0	0	0	–	0:00

Lines at 5-on-5

NJD

Line 1T. Meier15:27J. Hughes16:20J. Bratt12:56

Line 2O. Palat14:36D. Mercer14:40N. Hischier14:50

Line 3C. Brown15:06A. Gritsyuk13:23C. Glass13:50

Line 4E. Dadonov10:10L. Glendening9:54P. Cotter9:17

Pair 1L. Hughes20:42B. Pesce18:52

Pair 2J. Siegenthaler18:35J. Kovacevic18:04

Pair 3B. Dillon14:36D. Hamilton16:17

MIN

Line 1M. Zuccarello17:28K. Kaprizov17:43D. Yurov14:25

Line 2M. Johansson13:41R. Hartman15:54M. Boldy16:27

Line 3M. Foligno14:52N. Sturm11:14V. Tarasenko11:24

Line 4B. Jones8:23Y. Trenin9:37V. Hinostroza9:00

Pair 1B. Faber24:24Q. Hughes24:47

Pair 2J. Spurgeon14:44J. Brodin16:21

Pair 3D. Hunt13:36J. Middleton13:35

From the NHL's shift charts: the players on the ice together most at 5-on-5, with each one's own 5-on-5 time.

How We Did

	We projected	It finished
Score	NJD 2.8, MIN 3.5	NJD 5, MIN 2
Total goals	6.2	7
Shots on goal	NJD 29.0, MIN 29.9	NJD 29, MIN 23
Win chance	MIN 61%	NJD won

Players

Player	SOG projected	SOG	Points projected	Points	Goal chance	Goals
MIN K. Kaprizov	3.8	1	1.34	0	48%	0
NJD J. Hughes	3.7	3	0.96	1	33%	0
MIN M. Boldy	3.1	1	1.02	0	36%	0
NJD T. Meier	2.9	2	0.56	0	26%	0
MIN Q. Hughes	2.9	5	1.14	0	14%	0
NJD D. Hamilton	2.9	2	0.42	2	12%	0
NJD N. Hischier	2.6	2	0.74	2	28%	0
NJD J. Bratt	2.4	4	0.78	2	23%	2
MIN M. Zuccarello	2.2	0	0.89	0	24%	0
MIN R. Hartman	2.1	2	0.54	1	24%	1
NJD L. Hughes	2.1	3	0.51	0	9%	0
NJD A. Gritsyuk	2.0	1	0.35	0	15%	0
MIN B. Faber	1.9	4	0.45	1	11%	0
NJD D. Mercer	1.8	1	0.40	2	19%	1
MIN V. Tarasenko	1.6	2	0.50	0	21%	0
NJD C. Glass	1.4	1	0.27	0	13%	0
MIN D. Yurov	1.4	0	0.48	0	17%	0
MIN M. Johansson	1.4	0	0.50	1	17%	0
NJD C. Brown	1.4	1	0.35	0	14%	0
NJD B. Pesce	1.3	2	0.22	0	5%	0
MIN J. Spurgeon	1.2	0	0.34	0	8%	0
MIN Y. Trenin	1.1	0	0.26	0	12%	0
MIN J. Brodin	1.1	2	0.32	1	6%	0
MIN M. Foligno	1.1	3	0.31	1	15%	1
NJD E. Dadonov	1.1	0	0.29	0	12%	0
NJD J. Siegenthaler	1.0	1	0.13	1	3%	0
MIN N. Sturm	1.0	1	0.25	0	12%	0
MIN B. Jones	0.9	1	0.07	0	6%	0
MIN V. Hinostroza	0.9	1	0.21	1	10%	0
NJD J. Kovacevic	0.9	1	0.16	0	3%	0
NJD O. Palat	0.8	2	0.21	2	10%	2
NJD P. Cotter	0.8	1	0.19	0	10%	0
MIN J. Middleton	0.8	0	0.21	0	5%	0
NJD B. Dillon	0.7	2	0.17	1	4%	0
NJD L. Glendening	0.6	0	0.09	0	6%	0
MIN D. Hunt	0.5	0	0.17	0	2%	0

Shots on goal: 21 of 36 players within one of their projection; they took 0.2 fewer than projected on average.

Our projections as they stood at puck drop. One game says little about a model; Model Notes has how it tests over thousands.