Devils use 5-goal 2nd period to blast Blackhawks

[January 15, 2019]  Kyle Palmieri scored the first two of the New Jersey's five unanswered second-period goals Monday night, and the Devils hung on to beat the Chicago Blackhawks 8-5 in a wild and eventually fight-filled affair at Newark, N.J.

Palmieri, Travis Zajac, Sami Vatanen and Kevin Rooney scored within a span of less than 13 minutes as the Devils blew open what was a 1-1 game. Blake Coleman opened the scoring with a breakaway goal in the first and closed it with an empty-netter in the third. Brett Seney also scored in the final period for New Jersey, which has won two straight following a three-game losing streak.

Rookie goalie Mackenzie Blackwood made 27 saves as he won for the fifth time in his past seven starts.

The eight-goal game was the first for the Devils since an 8-3 win over the Vegas Golden Knights on March 14, 2018, and their first at home since an 8-5 victory over the New York Rangers on Dec. 12, 2008.

The Blackhawks, who have lost four straight (0-2-2), made things interesting in the final two periods. Patrick Kane, who tied the score with a power-play goal 3:07 into the second, stopped the Devils' flurry by scoring with 1:41 left in the middle period. Kane then picked off a Blackwood clearing pass and dished to Brent Seabrook to pull Chicago within 6-3 just 42 seconds later.

In the third period, Chicago's Dominik Kahun scored 38 seconds after Seney. The Blackhawks pulled within 7-5 on Brandon Saad's goal with 1:32 left, after which goalie Collin Delia was pulled. Coleman finally iced the game by scoring with 33.2 seconds left.

Delia stopped 14 of 15 shots in relief of Cam Ward, who took the loss after giving up six goals on 25 shots over the first two periods.

Devils center Kevin Rooney (58) celebrates his first NHL goal during the second period of their game against the Chicago Blackhawks at Prudential Center. Mandatory Credit: Ed Mulholland-USA TODAY Sports

The Blackhawks allowed eight goals for the second time this year. Chicago fell 8-3 to the Golden Knights on Nov. 27.

A fight broke out with 14.7 seconds left after Rooney delivered a hard check to the Blackhawks' David Kampf near center ice. Rooney, teammate Ben Lovejoy and Chicago's Drake Caggiula and Connor Murphy drew penalties following the brawl.

--Field Level Media

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