Wild chase Brodeur early, down Devils

St. Paul, MN – Kyle Brodziak netted two goals as the 2, at Xcel Energy Center.

Dany Heatley and Casey Wellman also lit the lamp for the Wild, who notched their third straight win.

Niklas Backstrom stopped 7-of-9 shots in the first period for Minnesota but was benched for the remainder of the game. Josh Harding entered in relief and stopped all 22 shots he faced.

Zach Parise and Ilya Kovalchuk scored for New Jersey, which dropped its third consecutive game.

Martin Brodeur started in net for the Devils but was pulled 8:17 into the first period after allowing three goals on four shots.

It was Brodeur's second-shortest outing in his 19-year career. His shortest was an eight-minute start on January 1, 2011 against Carolina.

Johan Hedberg allowed one goal on 12 shots through the rest of regulation.