The Devils are trying to get back on track against the well-traveled Wings

The New Jersey Devils have a tough slate this week, starting with a trip to Detroit to face the Red Wings on Wednesday.

The Devils, who have lost four of their last five games, host Columbus Friday and Buffalo Saturday.

New Jersey’s lone win in the past two weeks came Thursday. The Devils won in Pittsburgh 5-2 and then fell at home to the New York

Rangers 5-3 on Saturday.

Winning the 50-50 battles on the ice was key in those two games, according to coach Lindy Ruff.

“The biggest difference in the Pittsburgh game was we brought a lot of pucks,” he said. “We broke the puck out easily, we got the puck

out early. I think if we keep winning those battles, we’ll be in a really good spot.”

An important development in the game with Rangers was the return of Jack Hughes. The highly-rated forward, who missed five games

with a shoulder injury, had a goal and an assist to increase his season tally to 22 in 11 games.

“We’re in a tough stretch of hockey right now, including (Saturday),” Hughes said. “It’s a game that really good teams win. And we’re

not there right now. It’s something that we have to get back to. We’ve done it before.

“We’ve just got to tighten up — our top guys all the way down. We’ve got 16 games left. We’ve got a lot of runway. This is not our final product.”

The Devils will play the Red Wings for the second time this season. Hughes scored twice as New Jersey won its season opener 4-3 on

the road at Detroit’s expense.

The Red Wings returned home after playing two games in the Global Series in Stockholm, Sweden. They lost 5-4 to Ottawa in overtime

on Thursday, then squandered a two-goal lead in the third period as Toronto won 3-2.

Swedish Lucas Raymond scored in both games.

“It was an incredible experience,” forward David Perron said. “I think for Lucas, I thought he played pretty good hockey when he

scored two goals in his home country, it’s got to be pretty special for him. We’re happy about it.

“Getting a point (Thursday) was good for our team and it could have been a very special week if we won on Friday.”

Their No. 1 goalkeeper did not play in either competition. Ville Husso returned to Detroit early due to the birth of her first child.

Husso owns a 6-3-1 record despite a subpar 3.61 goals against average and .885 save percentage.

“I’m still winning games, so I think that’s the big thing, but obviously you don’t want to give up four goals in every game,” Husso said.

“Focus on what I can do better.”

Husso watched the games in Sweden from afar and hopes the team can bounce back this week. The Wings play at Boston Friday, then

host Minnesota Sunday.

“Unfortunately only one point (in Sweden), but the guys fought,” Husso said. “They got to enjoy the Sweden part too. I wish we had got

more. It’s a long season so we just have to get ready for the next game.”