Hughes, Devils rally for victory over Blackhawks

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Jack Hughes scored his 13th goal during a big third period for New Jersey, helping the Devils beat the Chicago Blackhawks 4-1 on Saturday.

Dawson Mercer and Timo Meier each had a goal and an assist as the Devils improved to 7-3-1 in their last 11 games. Nico Hischier also scored and Jacob Markstrom made 17 saves while improving to 15-6-2 this season.

New Jersey trailed 1-0 after two periods, but it put together a strong finish against Drew Commesso in his first NHL start. Commesso finished with 20 saves.

Jason Dickinson scored for Chicago on a second-period shot that hit off the crossbar and rebounded off the face of Devils defenseman Luke Hughes and into the net.

Mercer tied the game early in the third on a pass from Luke Hughes, and New Jersey went ahead to stay by scoring three times in 126 seconds.

Hughes made it 2-1 at 10:28, cashing in after New Jersey had a long stretch in the offensive zone. Hischier scored his 16th goal at 12:16, and Meier got his 10th at 12:34.

Chicago also allowed three goals in rapid succession in the third period during Thursday’s 5-4 loss to the New York Islanders.

Jesper Bratt and Brett Pesce each had two assists for the Devils.

Takeaways

Blackhawks: Chicago has been playing close games and failing to close them out. Commesso was outstanding in the first two periods.

Devils: The Devils have been playing outstanding defense, and they held their opponents under 20 shots in the last three games of a five-game homestand (3-1-1).

Key moment

Blackhawks star Connor Bedard hit the crossbar early in the third period on a power play.

Key stat

Each team went 0 for 3 on the power play.

Up next

The Blackhawks host the Islanders on Sunday, and the Devils are at St. Louis on Tuesday night.

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AP NHL: https://www.apnews.com/hub/NHL