Devils' Langenbrunner Gets Hat Trick in Return to Home State

There were storylines abound Saturday night in St. Paul. The New Jersey Devils were in town, bringing head coach Jacques Lemaire back to face the Wild for the first time since he left the team after last season. On top of that, former Wild forward Brian Rolston -- who picked up three straight 30-goal seasons in Minnesota -- returned to St. Paul for the first time since leaving as a free agent.

Oh, and Minnesota native Jamie Langenbrunner was on the trip, too. Since he didn't get much attention in the lead-up to the game, he made his noise on the ice.

A native of Cloquet, Minn., a small city around two hours north of the XCel Energy Center, Langenbrunner was the star of the show Saturday night, as the New Jersey Devils topped the Minnesota Wild 5-3.

The Devils' captain, also celebrating his selection to the U.S. Olympic team, had his first career hat trick in the win, icing it with an empty-netter late.

Langenbrunner may have enjoyed his return to Minnesota, but Lemaire didn't.

"Not at all. It was that terrible. Just a bad game. No puck control, no good thinking, turned the puck over many times -- many times and many times.

"It was a fun game for Jamie. I hope one guy had fun."

New Jersey remains the top team in the Eastern Conference. Lemaire has them working very hard, and they've scored more goals than most fans -- convinced Lemaire would try to trap people to death -- thought they would.

When they have a night like Saturday, where Lemaire isn't happy with much that he sees, it's nice to have a future Hall of Famer in the nets. Martin Brodeur stopped 11 shots in the first period, as Minnesota controlled play but came out of it with a scoreless tie. He made 29 saves for the game, many of them huge, allowing New Jersey to make enough plays to win.

For Minnesota, it's a second straight disappointing loss at home. Wednesday night, the Wild were putrid against Los Angeles. On this night, they were better, but still not good enough. It's been the story of the season so far, as Minnesota treads water in the Western Conference.