New Jersey 7, Chicago 1
When: 8:30 PM ET, Monday, December 23, 2019
Where: United Center, Chicago, Illinois
Referees:
Michael Markovic, Dan O'Halloran
Linesmen:
Andrew Smith, James Tobias
Attendance:
21559
By Field Level Media
Jack Hughes snapped a nearly two-month goal-scoring drought in the first period to begin a stretch of seven unanswered goals by the New Jersey Devils, who enjoyed their most lopsided win in more than a year by routing the host Chicago Blackhawks 7-1 on Monday.
P.K. Subban scored the go-ahead goal 51 seconds into the second period for the Devils, who also received goals from Damon Severson, John Hayden, Travis Zajac, Blake Coleman and Pavel Zacha.
New Jersey hadn't won a game by six goals since blanking the Washington Capitals 6-0 on Oct. 11. 2018.
Goalie Mackenzie Blackwood made 32 saves for the Devils, who improved to 3-6-1 under interim head coach Alain Nasreddine.
Zack Smith scored early in the first period for the Blackhawks, who had a two-game winning streak snapped while absorbing their most lopsided loss since falling to the Florida Panthers 7-0 on March 25, 2017.
Corey Crawford started in goal for Chicago but was pulled after allowing four goals on 20 shots. Robin Lehner finished up and stopped 21 of the 24 shots he faced.
Smith opened the scoring after Blackwood made a pair of point-blank stops on shots by Blackhawks center David Kampf. The rebound from the second shot bounced to Smith, who skated around the net and scored on a wraparound at the 3:21 mark.
Hughes ended an 18-game goal drought a little more than 11 minutes later, when he shuffled the puck while approaching Crawford from the left side before tucking a shot home with 5:14 left.
Subban's shot from in front of the blue line went past a screened Crawford, who had four players in front of him as the puck sailed past him. Severson ended his own goal drought at 11 games at the 7:22 mark of the second when he cut in at the right goal line and shuffled the puck before beating Crawford from point-blank range.
Hayden chased Crawford and extended the lead to 4-1 with 9:20 left in the middle period, when his shot from the right faceoff circle flew under Crawford's glove and into the far corner of the net. Zajac ended a two-on-one short-handed rush by the Devils by putting back the rebound of Coleman's shot with 2:38 remaining in the second.
Coleman scored a spectacular goal just 18 seconds into the third, when he bore in on Lehner and scored with a diving shot. Zacha capped the scoring with 1:39 left.
--Field Level Media
Top Game Performances
| New Jersey |
|
Chicago |
|
Damon Severson 3 |
Points |
Zack Smith 1 |
|
Damon Severson 1 |
Goals |
Zack Smith 1 |
|
Nikita Gusev 3 |
Assists |
Matthew Highmore 1 |
|
N/A |
Power Play Goals |
N/A |
|
Travis Zajac 1 |
Short Handed Goals |
N/A |
|
Mackenzie Blackwood .970 |
Save Percentage |
Robin Lehner .875 |
|
Mackenzie Blackwood 32 |
Saves |
Robin Lehner 21 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Shots |
Goals |
Power Play |
Penalty Kill |
Penalty Mins |
Face Offs Won |
| New Jersey
|
44 |
7 |
0-3 |
7-7 |
31 |
27 |
| Chicago
|
33 |
1 |
0-7 |
3-3 |
13 |
29 |
Upcoming Games
-
Chicago will play their next game at home against NY Islanders. The Blackhawks have a W/L % of .400 after a win and .391 after a loss.
-
New Jersey will play their next game at home against Toronto. The Devils have a W/L % of .333 after a win and .333 after a loss.
For more information, contact us