Surging Devils top Blackhawks despite getting off to slow start

Dawson Mercer and Max Willman scored in the first period and the New Jersey Devils beat the Chicago Blackhawks 4-2 on Sunday night.

Curtis Lazar and Michael McLeod also scored as the Devils won for the sixth time in eight games. Vitek Vanecek stopped 32 shots for his sixth win in eight starts.

“We did not start well at all,” Lazar said. “We took it upon ourselves to say enough's enough. We simplified our game. As the game went on, we generated more looks.”

Taylor Hall and Ryan Donato scored for Chicago, which lost for the fifth time in seven games. Arvid Soderblom finished with 36 saves.

Lazar tipped John Marino's drive in the slot and the puck eluded Soderblom to push the Devils' lead to 3-2 at 4:35 of the third period.

“He's my son's favorite player,” Lazar said of Marino. “He's going to be a happy camper.”

Donato pulled the Blackhawks back within one as he scored on his second rebound with 4:46 left.

Vanecek had a big stop on Phillipp Kurashev with 1:12 remaining, and McLeod's empty-netter in the final second sealed the Devils' win.

“We started a little slow, but after that were all right,” Devils coach Lindy Ruff said. “We knew we were going to have to do the little things right.” NOTES ❯❯ Calgary Flames forward Andrew Mangiapane was suspended for one game without pay by the NHL for cross-checking Seattle Kraken forward Jared McCann on Saturday night. Mangiapane was assessed a match penalty midway through the first period in the Flames' 6-3 victory in Seattle. The suspension will cost Mangiapane $30,208. McCann was down when Mangiapane cross-checked his head into the ice.