Without shine and with the absences of their stars Jack Hughes and Nico Hischier, the New Jersey Devils won 4-2 against the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday evening at the United Center.
At the end of the first period, Devils (7-3-1) forward Max Willman took advantage of a loss of the ball by young Blackhawks (4-7-0) defenseman Kevin Korchinski at the blue line to take the lead alone. Arvid Soderblom and hit him between the pads.
However, it was Curtis Lazar who scored the winning goal early in the third period, deflecting in teammate John Marino’s shot.
However, the New Jersey team will have goalkeeper Vitek Vanecek to thank. He made a spectacular save in the first period, diving to parry Tyler Johnson’s shot. The former Washington Capitals only dropped the flag twice out of the 34 shots he faced.
However, things started well for the Hawks. In fact, Taylor Hall opened the scoring with his second goal in as many games 1 minute, 51 seconds into the first period. Connor Bedard’s teammates tried to mount a comeback, but it was too late, although Ryan Donato reduced the score to 3-2 late in the game.
The Devils face the Avalanche on Tuesday in Colorado. For their part, Luke Richardson’s men will face the Lightning in Tampa Bay on Thursday.
The meeting was presented on TVA Sports.
SUMMARY
Blackhawks 1 – Devil 0 | Taylor Hall gives the Hawks an early lead in the first period
Blackhawks 1 – Devil 1 | Dawson Mercer finally broke the stalemate by scoring his first goal of the season in the 13th minute of the first game
Blackhawks 1 – Devil 2 | Freshly recalled from the American League, Max Willman escaped and gave the Devils the lead shortly after Mercer’s goal
Blackhawks 1 – Devil 3 | Curtis Lazar capitalized on a good try from John Marino to double the Devils’ lead in the third period
Blackhawks 2 -Devil 3 | Ryan Donato closes the gap at the end of the third period