Kahkonen, Wild top Devils, extend point streak to seven

NEWARK, N.J. -- Kaapo Kahkonen made 32 saves in his NHL debut to help the Minnesota Wild extend their point streak to seven games with a 3-2 win against the New Jersey Devils at Prudential Center on Tuesday.

"I felt pretty normal all day," the 23-year-old said. "I almost had to try to not get too excited and calm myself down even though it is the NHL. It's still hockey, still one of the games you play over the course of the season, so you have to approach it the same way."
Ryan Suter had a goal and an assist, and Zach Parise and Jordan Greenway scored for the Wild (10-11-4). Minnesota, which is 4-0-3 in its past seven, had lost two straight in overtime, having committed a penalty and given up a tying power-play goal late in the third period at the Boston Bruins on Saturday and at the New York Rangers on Monday.
WATCH: [All Wild vs. Devils highlights]
"Just with the way the two prior games ended, to be on the other side and be able to lock one down was nice for us," Parise said. "We got four out of six points on this (three-game) road trip, so that's not a bad thing."
Jesper Boqvist and Kyle Palmieri scored, and Louis Domingue made 26 saves for the Devils (8-11-4), who have lost three of four.
"I thought we did a lot of good things," Palmieri said. "I think we knew they were going to defend well. They have a guy playing his first NHL game, so obviously they were trying to battle for him. They blocked a lot of shots at the end in the third."

Kahkonen made the save on all 10 shots he faced in the third period.
"Obviously it's just one game, but I feel the game was pretty simple, we did the right plays and put the puck deep and defended the middle," Kahkonen said. "They got their chances from the outside, but we did a very good job and that made my job a lot easier."
Suter scored off a snap shot from the left face-off circle to give the Wild a 3-2 lead at 3:00 of the third period.

Palmieri scored a power-play goal on a tip-in from the slot off a pass from Taylor Hall at 13:28 of the second period for a 2-2 tie.
Greenway took advantage of a turnover and scored on a 2-on-1 to give the Wild a 2-1 lead at 10:07 of the second.
Boqvist scored his first NHL goal, in his 10th game, on a wrist shot from the right circle for a 1-1 tie at 12:44 of the first period. Wild coach Bruce Boudreau challenged for a missed stoppage event prior to the goal, but the call on the ice stood, and Minnesota was given a minor penalty for an unsuccessful challenge.

The NHL Situation Room released a statement saying that a missed stoppage event occurred and the goal should have been disallowed because New Jersey forward Wayne Simmonds high-sticked the puck in the neutral zone and then played it in the attacking zone.
"Whether it went in or not we still needed to score more in order to get the win," Greenway said. "We knew we had to keep going, we had to keep pushing and get them on their heels, and I think we did and that's why we came out with the win."
Parise scored a power-play goal on a deflection of Suter's shot from the right point to give the Wild a 1-0 lead at 5:30 of the first.
"I just thought our execution, particularly early in the game, was not close to where it needed to be," Devils coach John Hynes said. "It's a riddle we've got to solve."

They said it

"The Devils are so different (from when he played with them from 2005-12). There's only Travis Zajac and Andy Greene and maybe a couple of guys on the staff, but it's so different. It's not the same feelings I had the first couple of times I came back, but I still love playing in this building. I don't get the warmest reception, but it's a fun place for me. It was a great place to live for a while, and I always enjoyed it here." -- Wild forward Zach Parise
"I thought [Kahkonen] made some good saves. I thought they did a good job of defending; they're a team that relies on defending the middle of the ice, and they did a good job. We had a couple of scoring chances inside, but we didn't find a way to capitalize on those." -- Devils forward Kyle Palmieri

Need to know

Suter has seven points (one goal, six assists) in his past five games. ... Wild center Mikko Koivu went 12-for-19 on face-offs (63 percent). ... Minnesota is 5-10-2 on the road this season but 2-0-2 in its past four. … Kahkonen was called up on an emergency basis from Iowa of the American Hockey League on Nov. 20 after Devan Dubnyk returned home for personal reasons. … New Jersey had 21 giveaways; Minnesota had three. ... Hall has six points (two goals, four assists) in his past five games.

What's next

Wild: Host the Ottawa Senators on Friday (4 p.m. ET; FS-N, FS-WI, RDS2, TSN5, NHL.TV)
Devils: At the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday (7:30 p.m. ET; NHLN, SN, RDS, MSG+, NHL.TV)