RECAP: Blackhawks Edged by Devils in Overtime

CHICAGO – Simon Nemec scored his third goal of the game at 3:28 of overtime to lift the New Jersey Devils to a 4-3 victory against the Chicago Blackhawks at United Center on Wednesday.

The defenseman took a stretch pass from goalie Jacob Markstrom, moved into the zone and beat Chicago goalie Spencer Knight on the glove side.

“He was waiting for it with his stick,” Markstrom said of Nemec. “He was wide open, so a little soft pass. He had to wait for it a little bit. It was his night tonight. Huge game for him, and (to) top it off with an OT hat trick is huge.”

Nemec had also tied the game 3-3 at 16:14 of the third period, tapping in a cross-ice pass from Stefan Noesen at the left post.

The hat trick gave Nemec four goals for the season. He had not scored in New Jersey's first 15 games before his goal on Monday against the New York Islanders with five seconds remaining in the third period forced overtime in a 3-2 loss.

“I was never like a shooter or a scoring guy,” Nemec said. “So, yeah, I’m glad for that. But obviously, great team win. We were down like three times, and we won. That’s good.”

Jack Hughes had two assists for the Devils (12-4-1), who have won three of their past four, with each game going to overtime. Markstrom made 17 saves in addition to getting an assist on the game-winning goal.

Chicago's Connor Bedard scored to extend his goal-scoring streak to four games and his point streak to nine games (19 points; eight goals, 11 assists), tying his career long, set last season.

Knight made 33 saves for the Blackhawks (8-5-4), who had won three in a row. Nick Foligno and Louis Crevier each had two assists.

“You look at it a few different ways,” Chicago coach Jeff Blashill said. “You could look at it (like) we had multiple leads and then end up giving up the tying (goal) and then they win in overtime. It was definitely a game we didn’t have our best, that’s for sure. Just looked like we had a number of guys without great legs.”

Bedard put the Blackhawks ahead 1-0 on a 5-on-3 power play at 18:35 of the first period. Bedard took a cross-ice pass from Teuvo Teravainen and scored on a one-timer from the left face-off circle.

Nemec tied the game at 19:45 of the second period, taking a drop pass from Hischier in the offensive zone, moving through the slot and scoring on a backhand. The Devils outshot the Blackhawks 14-3 in the period.

Landon Slaggert's first goal of the season gave the Blackhawks a 2-1 lead at 3:05 of the third period. Slaggert tipped in Crevier’s shot from the right point. The Blackhawks recalled Slaggert from Rockford of the American Hockey League earlier in the day to take the spot of forward Andre Burakovsky, who missed the game with an undisclosed injury.

Dawson Mercer tied the game again at 10:13 on a one-timer from the left circle, scoring short side while falling to one knee after taking a cross-ice pass from Hughes.

Sam Lafferty's first goal of the season put Chicago back in front 3-2 at 13:34. Lafferty moved into the offensive zone, dodged Luke Hughes while going across the slot and scored on a backhand.

"It started with a great wall play by Foligno,” said Lafferty, who was a healthy scratch in 12 games this season. “That allowed me to blow out of the zone, and from there, instincts took over. Luckily enough, it went in."

The Devils played most of the game without forwards Zack MacEwen and Cody Glass. MacEwen took a hit from Chicago's Connor Murphy at 12:33 of the first period and did not return. MacEwen had missed 13 games with an upper-body injury before returning to play on Monday against the Islanders. After going into boards in the final minute of the first period, Glass came out for the second period but left for the locker room again after one shift.

The Devils did not have an update on either player.

“I loved how our guys stayed with it,” Devils coach Sheldon Keefe said. “Even though we were down most of the game, I loved a lot about our game today. In lots of ways, I thought it was the best game we’ve played all season in terms of controlling the play. Up until a couple in the third period, I don’t know that we gave up a real clean scoring chance against and obviously generated plenty of our own. To get the two points feels good, and the guys get rewarded for that. I thought we played real, real well today. It was a real nice recipe that’s going to give us a chance to win most nights.”

NOTES: Nemec became the eighth defenseman in NHL history to cap a regular-season hat trick with an overtime goal and first since Jakob Chychrun on April 4, 2021. Nemec, 21, is the youngest to do so, besting Chychrun (23 years, four days) … Chicago’s Ryan Donato played in his 500th NHL game. ... The Devils have won seven straight against the Blackhawks dating back to the 2022-23 season.