Rookie lifts Blackhawks past Devils in shootout

[December 07, 2019]    Rookie Kirby Dach, appearing in an NHL shootout for the first time, scored the decisive goal in the fifth round Friday night as the Chicago Blackhawks edged the New Jersey Devils 2-1 in Newark, N.J.

Dach's goal capped an entertaining shootout in which both teams scored in the first two rounds. Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane tallied for the Blackhawks while Nikita Gusev and Jesper Boqvist were successful for the Devils before Chicago goalie Corey Crawford and New Jersey goalie Mackenzie Blackwood turned back the next two shots apiece.

Dach, 18, deked Blackwood several times before beating him with a forehand off the top post. Crawford then stopped another 18-year-old, Jack Hughes, to give the Blackhawks their second win in as many nights following a three-game losing streak in which they were outscored 16-5.

Alex DeBrincat scored in the second period for the Blackhawks. Crawford made 29 saves in regulation and overtime.

Taylor Hall scored in the first period for the Devils, who lost their fourth straight and fell to 0-1-1 under interim head coach Alain Nasreddine. Blackwood recorded 28 saves.

The Devils took the lead late in the first by scoring on a power play generated when Blackhawks center Zack Smith was whistled for elbowing. Hall's shot from the faceoff circle sailed past the outstretched stick of Chicago center Slater Koekkoek and leaping New Jersey center Pavel Zacha, who was screening Crawford, and into the net at 13:31.

A hooking penalty on Devils defenseman Sami Vatanen generated the power play on which the Blackhawks tied the score shortly before the midway point of regulation. Blackwood slowed a shot by Kane, but the puck skittered across the crease and to DeBrincat, who backhanded the rebound under the stick of New Jersey defenseman P.K. Subban and into the corner of the net at the 9:35 mark.

Neither team scored during a cautious and fast-paced third period, though each came close in the final three minutes. Crawford gloved a snipe by Blake Coleman following a turnover by the Blackhawks deep in their own zone, and Blackwood turned back a point-blank shot by Dominik Kubalik.

--Field Level Media

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