Wood's hat trick propels Devils past Blackhawks

CHICAGO -- Miles Wood had the first hat trick of his NHL career, and the New Jersey Devils rallied from three goals down to defeat the Chicago Blackhawks 7-5 at United Center on Sunday.
Taylor Hall had a goal and an assist, and Keith Kinkaid made a season-high 39 saves for New Jersey (11-4-2), which won its first game in regulation after trailing by three goals since April 18, 2006.

"It certainly felt good," said Wood, who also had an assist. "We came out a little flat there in the first, but as a group, (we) felt like we responded there in the second and third, and that's just the type of character group we have in here. It's fun to be around."
WATCH: [All Devils vs. Blackhawks highlights]
Artem Anisimov, Alex DeBrincat, Jan Rutta, Tanner Kero and Patrick Kane scored for Chicago (8-8-2). Corey Crawford allowed six goals on 25 shots and was pulled after the second period. Anton Forsberg made 12 saves.
"They came out with a real strong start and scored some goals early, and we kind of regrouped in between the first and second," Devils coach John Hynes said. "I thought we came out better and wound up scoring some goals, and then you could see it was kind of a seesaw match after that."

After the Blackhawks took a 4-1 lead, Wood got the Devils rally started at 17:37 of the first, his second goal of the period.
Andy Greene, Nico Hischier, Hall and Brian Gibbons each scored in the second period to give the Devils a 6-4 lead.
"I think in the second and third, we won more battles and we skated more," said Hischier, who had his second three-point game in the NHL. "At the end, I think that makes the difference. They're a really good team, but we competed really [hard] in the second and the third."

Kane ended a seven-game goal drought when he scored on a power play with 2.7 seconds left in the second period to make it 6-5.
Wood made it 1-1 with a power-play goal at 3:40 of the first period. The Devils have scored a power-play goal in back-to-back games after going five straight without one.
"That was probably the most adversity we had in a game this year," Hynes said. "Down 4-1, pretty much being outcompeted and outplayed, it was something we had to get through together as a group and I thought we did that. It speaks to the tightness of the group, I think it speaks to the character of your leaders and the guys on the team. We didn't roll over, we fought our way back, and lucky enough for us, we got rewarded for some of our hard work to get ourselves back in the game and then we found a way to win it."

Goal of the game

Wood's hat trick goal at 2:21 of the third period.

Save of the game

Kinkaid's save against DeBrincat at 13:47 of the second period.

Highlight of the game

DeBrincat's goal at 13:41 of the first period.

They said it

"I'm just trying to chug along and stay as healthy as I can throughout the rest of my career and try and contribute. I think more than anything, it was a good character win. I know that's a little bit cliché, but we had to battle back in a lot of instances tonight and that's good to see." -- Devils forward Taylor Hall on getting his 400th NHL career point

"I don't know if we thought it was going to be easy the rest of the night or what, but that's a tough lead to give up." -- Blackhawks forward Patrick Kane

Need to know

Devils defenseman Mirco Mueller sustained an upper-body injury on his first shift of the game and did not return. Hynes said he will be reevaluated Monday. ... It was the second time in his NHL career that Crawford allowed six goals in regulation; he hadn't since a 6-2 loss against the Vancouver Canucks on Nov. 6, 2011. … Rutta, who was promoted to the top defense pairing with Duncan Keith, had a goal and two assists for his first NHL career three-point game.

What's next

Devils: At the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday (7 p.m. ET; TSN4, MSG, NHL.TV)
Blackhawks: Host the New York Rangers on Wednesday (7 p.m. ET; NBCSN, NHL.TV)