Recap: Devils outlast Hawks 4-3 in OT

Second period

The Devils tied it with 14.3 seconds left in the period when Simon Nemec joined a Devils rush up the ice and whipped a backhand shot from the slot past Knight to tie it at 1-1 after two periods. Despite the goal, Knight was fantastic, having stopped Jack Hughes on two separate breakaways and making several other point-blank saves. Through 40 minutes, Knight stopped 23 of 24 shots.

Third period

The Hawks took a 2-1 lead when Landon Slaggert, who was just called up from Rockford, deflected a point shot from Louis Crevier. For Slaggert, it was his first of the season at the 3:05 mark.

New Jersey tied it at 2-2 when Dawson Mercer buried a one-timer for his ninth of the season. The Devils entered the zone on a rush but a shot attempt was stopped by Knight, however, the Devils retrieved the puck and Hughes found Mercer with a cross-ice pass that found the back of the net at 10:13.

Sam Lafferty gave the Hawks their third lead of the game with his first of the season. Lafferty skated in along the left wing boards and showed some skill by avoiding an oncoming Luke Hughes and making a slick move across the goalmouth to create a wide-open net where he buried the puck to give the Hawks a 3-2 lead at 13:34.

The lead would not last long, as the Devils tied it at 3-3 when Nemec scored his second of the game and third of the season at 16:14. Jack Hughes sent a cross-ice feed to Stefan Noesen, who sent it cross ice to Nemec, who finished. The two teams finished regulation tied 3-3 as they headed to overtime.

Overtime

Nemec completed the hat trick when Markstrom executed a stretch pass, and he fired a wrist shot from the right circle and over the Knight’s glove to win it 4-3 at 3:26 of overtime.

Analysis

Despite a slow start, the Hawks found their legs toward the late stages of the first and were able to grab the lead three times but could not finish the game. Knight was clearly the best player on the ice with several grade-A saves, but Nemec had his number and was the difference in the game. While the result was disappointing, the young Blackhawks, who played without two of their top scorers, proved they could compete with one of the best teams in the NHL.

The Blackhawks return to the ice on Saturday night when they host the Toronto Maple Leafs. Puck drop is at 6 p.m. CST on CHSN with the radio call on 720 WGN.