Pluses, minuses for Devils-Red Wings; Lightning-Wild

NHL Network and ESPN analyst Kevin Weekes will offer his thoughts for big games each week throughout the season.

The New Jersey Devils (23-11-3) visit the Detroit Red Wings (16-12-7) at Little Caesars Arena on Wednesday (7 p.m. ET, TNT). Then the Tampa Bay Lightning (24-11-1) visit the Minnesota Wild (21-13-2) at Xcel Energy Center (9:30 p.m., ET; TNT, TVAS).
Here's my breakdown of the games.

Devils

Pluses:They had an amazing start going 21-4-1, including winning 13 games in a row, but have come down to earth going 2-7-2 in their past 11 games. Jack Hughes (42 points) and Jesper Bratt (37 points) have been great. Overall, the young goaltending has been good with Vitek Vanecek (13-5-2, 2.38 goals-against average, .911 save percentage, two shutouts) and Akira Schmid (5-3-0, 1.96 GAA, .932 save percentage). Schmid is back in the American Hockey League with Mackenzie Blackwood healthy. The Devils have outshot and out chanced their opponents on most nights, which is why their record is what it is.

Minuses:They're without one of their top defensemen, John Marino, and one of their key offseason acquisitions, forward Ondrej Palat, who's been out almost the entire season (six games played). During their past 11 games, the Devils have scored 2.55 goals per game and allowed 3.55. The power play is also 15.2 percent over that time.

Red Wings

Pluses:The Red Wings are a better team than last year. Offseason acquisitions Dominik Kubalik (28 points), David Perron (27 points), Andrew Copp (20 points), and defensemen Ben Chiarot and Olli Maatta, are veterans who have made an impact. I don't know that anyone had them in the Stanley Cup Playoffs this season, but they are right in the thick of things in the wild card race in the Eastern Conference. Goalie Ville Husso, who was acquired in an offseason trade with the St. Louis Blues, is 12-6-5 with a 2.86 GAA, .908 save percentage and three shutouts. He will start after missing two games with an illness.

Minuses: The Red Wings are still not quite there yet and have only won more than two straight games twice this season. They are also middle of the pack on special teams (20.5 percent on the power play, 77.6 percent on the penalty kill). They're missing forward Tyler Bertuzzi because of a hand injury, but forward Robby Fabbri will make his season debut coming off a torn ACL sustained March 10.

Lightning

Pluses:They're 9-2-0 in their past 11 games and are looking every bit like the team that's been to the Stanley Cup Final three straight seasons. I love the progression of Mikhail Sergachev. The defenseman was excellent in the playoffs, and it has carried over (29 points in 34 games this season). Nikita Kucherov (53 points) has been money and is among the top scorers in the NHL. Steven Stamkos is on the verge of 500 goals (498) and Brayden Point (38 points in 36 games) is healthy and contributing.

Minuses:They've been great at home (15-4-1) but are 9-7-0 on the road. That's really the only knock I have on them. To have the level of consistency that they have for 3 1/2 seasons now is nothing short of amazing.

Wild

Pluses: The Wild have won eight of their past 10 games but get a big test in the surging Lightning, who will be playing the second half of a back to back. Kirill Kaprizov (45 points; 20 goals, 25 assists) is one of the best players in the world and Mats Zuccarello has been outstanding since he joined the Wild in 2019-20 with 191 points (66 goals, 125 assists) in 213 games. Matt Boldy is having a solid second NHL season (27 points). The Wild are never out of any games, especially with Marc-Andre Fleury in goal (13-8-1, 2.82 GAA, .904 save percentage, one shutout).

Minuses:Besides Kaprizov, Zuccarello and Boldy, only Joel Eriksson Ek (28 points) has more than 20 points for the Wild, so they definitely could use more depth scoring offensively and defensively. They are 11-7-1 at home after they were 31-8-2 there last season.