Bastian, Meier, Mercer, Palat and Noesen score in the Devils 5-3 win in Chicago
CHICAGO, IL—The New Jersey Devils jumped out to an early two-goal lead on the Chicago Blackhawks by the 6:50 mark of the opening period and never looked back or conceded their lead.
New Jersey began its road trip with a 5-3 victory against Chicago, backstopped by Jacob Markstrom who made 21 saves on 25 shots.
Nathan Bastian, in his return to the lineup, scored the opening goal of the game, left alone by Spencer Knight’s left post after a coverage miscommunication between Blackhawk players Artyom Levshunov and Wyatt Kaiser, snapped a shot into an wide-open net for the early Devils lead.
Timo Meier promptly doubled the Devils lead, taking a whack at the puck on Dawson Mercer’s goal-line drive to the net, popping the puck past Knight for a 2-0 lead just 6:50 into the game.
While the Blackhawks responded with a goal by Tyler Bertuzzi in the first, the Devils took the 2-1 lead into second period.
Ondrej Palat took advantage of what looked like a sloppy Blackhawks power play at 3:14 of the 2nd, tallying his 14th goal of the season and first shorthanded goal since 2019 with the Tampa Bay Lightning.
The Devils and Hawks traded two more goals, one from Blackhawk Ilya Mikheyev to cut the Devils lead to 3-2, before Dawson Mercer doubled up the lead at 4-2 with a lethal-looking wrist shot on the power play.
The Blackhawks got within one goal when Frank Nazar put the puck past Markstrom, while Chicago had an empty net in place of the extra attacker.
Chicago would pull Knight a second time, after Nazar’s goal, but New Jersey sealed the victory with Stefan Noesen’s 20th goal of the season, hitting the 20 goal mark for the first time in his career.
The Devils travel to Winnipeg next to take on the Jets on Friday night.
Here are some observations from the game:
• The Devils caught a break following Ondrej Palat’s shorthanded goal when Chicago’s Ryan Donato appeared to have responded for the Blackhawks. But it didn’t take half a second before Jacob Markstrom called to the refs for a high-stick infraction, which, upon the referee’s review, was indeed the case, and Donato’s goal came off the board, the Devils maintaining their 3-2 lead, paving way to double up the score on the Hawks with Mercer’s power play goal shortly thereafter.
• Simon Nemec found himself tied up with Blackhawks star forward sensation Connor Bedard in the 2nd period, taking Bedard to the ice with a physical play. Nemec did get in a few extra jabs on Bedard before Chicago’s Landon Slaggert grabbed Nemec by the jersey looking for an altercation. The moment was broken up by the referee’s but not before Brenden Dillon skated across the ice to Nemec’s defense.
Slaggart was called for a roughing penalty, leading to the power play that set up Mercer’s 4-2 goal.
• March was made for Meier. His power play goal puts the Swiss forward at eight goals in 12 games for the month of March.
• Not only did Jesper Bratt extend his franchise record for assists in a single season with his 63rd and 64th, but the two assists also put him over his threshold for his personal best points in a single season. His two helpers put Bratt at a total of 84 points this season, with nine games to play, to set a new career-high.
• Luke Hughes’ three assists against Chicago marked his 11th multi-point game of the season. Hughes contributed to both the Meier and Mercer goals, picking up two primary assists in less than 30 seconds of gameplay. Last season, Hughes’ first full year in the NHL, he had nine multi-point games.
Hughes’ assists were his 30th, 31st, and 32nd of the season, becoming the first Devils defenseman since Brian Rafalski from 2000-01 to 2006-07), to have consecutive 30-assist seasons.
• Sheldon Keefe made several lineup changes heading into the game against the Blackhawks. Curtis Lazar and Nathan Bastian both returned after being healthy scratches in the previous matchup, while Cody Glass missed Wednesday’s game, Keefe adding that Glass did not make the trip to Chicago.
On defense, Simon Nemec was back in the lineup after sitting out the previous two games. He returned to the ice paired up with Brenden Dillon.
The Devils road trip continues in Winnipeg, Manitoba when New Jersey visits the Jets. You can watch on MSGSN or listen on the Devils Hockey Network. Puck drop is 8:08 p.m. ET.
