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Calling All Cars: Devils 4, Blackhawks 1

Posted on by Dave Melton
Credit: John Jones-Imagn Images

Another close Blackhawks game became decidedly less so later on as the host New Jersey Devils four third-period goals en route to a 4-1 win over the Blackhawks on Saturday afternoon.

After a scoreless first period, the Blackhawks once again took the lead thanks to a fortunate bounce, Jason Dickinson’s shot from a 2-on-1 was initially stopped by NJ goalie Jacob Markstrom before bouncing into the net off of the face of Devils defenseman Luke Hughes:

New Jersey tied the game a few minutes into the third when Dawson Mercer was left all alone at the back door for an easy tap-in goal:

Things really went off the rails near the middle of the third. After a lengthy New Jersey stint in the Chicago end, Wyatt Kaiser failed to clear the puck and lost it to Jesper Bratt, with the puck later finding Jack Hughes fresh off the bench for this snipe that put the Devils ahead for good:

This Devils' goal felt inevitable after two-plus minutes in the offensive zone. Kaiser needed to ice that.

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— Scott Powers (@scottpowers.bsky.social) December 14, 2024 at 2:14 PM

It only got worse for the Blackhawks. First, this ill-advised pass from Kevin Korchinski led to a counter-attacking goal the other way by Nico Hischier:

Korchinski's turnover leads to the Devils' third goal

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— Scott Powers (@scottpowers.bsky.social) December 14, 2024 at 2:16 PM

Then, Timo Meier scored 18 seconds later when he pounced on this rebound:

The Devils' fourth goal in the third period

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— Scott Powers (@scottpowers.bsky.social) December 14, 2024 at 2:20 PM

And that was that!

Notes

Was initially planning on starting this section by waxing poetic about a solid first NHL start for Drew Commesso. It’s hard to heap too much praise now because there were four goals against, although it’d be extremely difficult to pin any of them on Commesso. There were positive signs, though, as Commesso largely seemed to be the positionally sound goalie he’s been billed as since college, which kept him in position to make saves like the ones below. Nothing in this game should count as a mark against Commesso, who still remains another season or two — at least — of AHL seasoning away from a more consistent NHL role.

The Korchinski turnover before the Devils third row was egregious and a decision that will certainly be worth revisiting in a film session. A player with his archetype is going to make mistakes that result in chances the other way, but the hope is they decrease over time while there’s a corresponding increase in risks taken that result in prime scoring chances for the Blackhawks. There just aren’t a ton of guys who can so effortlessly navigate the ice like Korch does in the clip below:

Also this was clip was actually moments before Dickinson’s goal, as @BHF clarified in a later tweet. Korch busted his ass back to break-up a potential Devils rush and Chicago scored seconds later because of it. Note the bad, but don’t forget the good, either.

Tyler Bertuzzi scoring a pair of late garbage goals like he did on Thursday night isn’t exactly evidence that he’s suddenly going to produce. The chance below was a better sign, but an even better one would be moments like this resulting in a goal.

Speaking of guys generating chances, seeing Bedard do this on the opening shift of the game was a positive sign, even if it didn’t result in a goal. There’s a little swagger in the maneuver here, which is so evident in Bedard when he’s feeling it and painfully noticeable when he’s not.

Bedard’s back to making his own scoring chances, too, like he did with this power-play rush in the third that also resulted in a shot off the crossbar:

There will be a point where Connor Bedard finishes these more often than not.

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— Scott Powers (@scottpowers.bsky.social) December 14, 2024 at 1:59 PM

New Jersey may have been guilty of playing with its food a bit for the first 40 minutes, because the Devils then found another gear in the final period that the Blackhawks could not match. That’s going to happen against quality sides like the Devils, though. Some credit can be given to the Hawks for proving to be a worthy foe for the first two periods, requiring the Devils to ramp things up in the third. The Chicago miscues cracked the door open and New Jersey was happy to stampede through the opening.

Sure feels like TJ Brodie has too often been the player a second or two late in defending the player who ultimately scores the goal, doesn’t it?

Maybe a bit quieter of a debut game for Frank Nazar than we would’ve liked, as he had just one shot on goal in his 14:01 of ice time but did have a few other decent scoring chances. His line with Bertuzzi and Hall scuffled in 8:40 of 5-on-5 ice time (29.41 percent shot attempt share, 34.93 percent expected goal share) despite having 80 percent of its draws in the offensive zone. We can afford to be patient with this one, though.

Last time the Hawks left New Jersey they were without Bedard for the next month-plus. So we’ve still got that going for us.

Game Charts

Three Stars

  1. Jesper Bratt (NJD) — 2 assists
  2. Dawson Mercer (NJD) — 1 goal, 1 assist
  3. Timo Meier (NJD) — 1 goal, 1 assist

What’s Next

Another weekend afternoon game awaits in about 24 hours as the Blackhawks will host the New York Islanders on Sunday at the United Center for a 2 p.m. puck drop.

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