NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Jack Hughes scored his 13th goal during a big third period for New Jersey, helping the Devils beat the Chicago Blackhawks 4-1 on Saturday.
Dawson Mercer and Timo Meier each had a goal and an assist as the Devils improved to 7-3-1 in their last 11 games. Nico Hischier also scored and Jacob Markstrom made 17 saves while improving to 15-6-2 this season.
New Jersey trailed 1-0 after two periods, but it put together a strong finish against Drew Commesso in his first NHL start. Commesso finished with 20 saves.
Jason Dickinson scored for Chicago on a second-period shot that hit off the crossbar and rebounded off the face of Devils defenseman Luke Hughes and into the net.
Mercer tied the game early in the third on a pass from Luke Hughes, and New Jersey went ahead to stay by scoring three times in 126 seconds.
KINGS 5, RANGERS 1
NEW YORK (AP) — Alex Turcotte and Warren Foegele scored in the first period, and Los Angeles beat New York for their seventh win in eight games.
Quinton Byfield, Adrian Kempe and Phillip Danault also scored as the Kings handed the Rangers their ninth loss in 12 games. Darcy Kuemper made 31 saves.
Los Angeles captain Anze Kopitar had two assists as the Kings chased Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin in the second period. Shesterkin allowed five even-strength goals on 21 shots.
Turcotte opened the scoring at 7:05, whipping the puck past Shesterkin to finish a 2-on-1 break with Kempe. Foegele made it 2-0 at 15:06 of the first.
Byfield scored at 2:46 of the second, followed by Kempe at 4:40 and Danault at 5:04.
WILD 4, FLYERS 1
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP ) — Kirill Kaprizov scored twice to reach 20 goals for the season as Minnesota beat Philadelphia.
Matt Boldy and Marco Rossi also scored, and Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 20 of 21 shots he faced as the Wild — at least temporarily — took the league lead in points with 44.
Samuel Ersson made 19 saves for the Flyers, who spoiled Fleury’s shutout bid on Travis Sanheim’s goal with just under six minutes remaining.
Kaprizov opened the scoring with a high shot from a bad angle that deflected off Ersson’s helmet and into the net. He added an empty-net score with 2:10 remaining.
Boldy scored on a breakaway in the second, and Rossi completed a nifty 2-on-1 with Mats Zuccarello, who returned after missing 12 games with a lower-body injury.
The Associated Press
