Hot Hawks too much for Devils

CHICAGO — Patrick Kane scored his 34th goal and added two assists to lead the Blackhawks to a 5-2 victory over the Devils on Thursday night for the Blackhawks’ eighth victory in nine games.

Brandon Saad and Artem Anisimov each notched a goal and an assist, and Jonathan Toews and Drake Caggiula also scored for the Blackhawks. Cam Ward stopped 41 shots.

Damon Severson and Travis Zajac scored to give the Devils a 2-0 lead with a little more than three minutes left in the first period before the Blackhawks took over. The Devils have lost five of their last six.

Devils goalie Cory Schneider finished with 31 saves to extend his regularseason winless streak to 24 games. He is now 0-17-4 since his last win Dec. 27, 2017.

The Devils dominated early in this one, outshooting Chicago 9-2 midway through the first period and testing Ward.

Severson opened the scoring from the right circle 7:14 in. He was wide open and beat Ward on the glove side after taking Brett Seney’s cross-ice pass after Chicago defenseman Erik Gustafsson was checked off the puck in the corner.

Zajac’s power-play goal from the slot with 3:18 left in the first made it 2-0. Marcus Johansson fed him from near the goal line to cap a nifty series of quick passes.

Kane scored 1:35 later during a delayed penalty call to cut it to 2-1 and quell the Devils’ momentum. He beat Schneider through a screen from the slot after skating in from the blue line.

Caggiula’s 10th goal 20 seconds into the second tied it and Toews’ 26th goal, with 6:48 left in the second, gave Chicago its first lead.