Wood nets hat-trick as Devils beat Hawks

When Devils coach John Hynes was asked before the game whether hesuspected the Blackhawks might be due for a scoring breakout, he couldonly blurt out, “I hope not.”Little did he know that his team, too, would have a scoring barrage,setting a season-high for goals in a 7-5 win over the Blackhawks onSunday night at United Center to start a four-game road trip as MilesWood notched his first career hat-trick. The teams, both playing onback-to-back nights, traded four-goal periods, the Devils (11-4-2) inthe second as part of a string of five unanswered goals after theBlackhawks (8-8-2) had taken a 4-1 lead in the first period.Excluding their season-opening 10-1 win over the Penguins, theBlackhawks had been averaging 2.4 goals per game but goalie CoreyCrawford came into the game second in the NHL with a 1.87 goals-againstaverage and a .942 save percentage.Both of those trends were reversed and Anton Forsberg, in net for theBlackhawks’ 4-3 overtime win at Carolina on Saturday night, entered tostart the third period after Crawford allowed six goals on 25 shots. ButWood completed his hat trick by punching in a power-play goal at theleft post to make it 7-5 at 2:21.Keith Kinkaid allowed four goals on 17 shots in the first period butfinished with 39 saves. Forsberg made 12 saves. Devils see improvementin Damon Severson’s defensive game.The Devils played with five defensemen for the majority of the gameafter Mirco Mueller took a hard from John Hayden along the left boardsin the Devils’ zone just 18 seconds into the game and did not return. Mueller, skating slowly, was able to get to the bench under his ownpower after initially laying on the ice but was taken directly to theDevils’ room for evaluation with what the team listed as an upper-bodyinjury.The Devils’ comeback started with Wood, low in the slot, cutting theBlackhawks’ lead to 4-2 at 17:37 of the first period and captain AndyGreene, notching his 200th career point, completed a tic-tac-toe passingsequence started by Blake Coleman and Stefan Noesen by getting to theleft post to beat Crawford to make it 4-3 at 3:07 of the second period.No. 1 overall pick Nico Hischier connected on a wrist shot to tie thegame at 4 at 6:52 of the second period and Taylor Hall, reaching the400-point milestone, skated to the crease and deposited a backhanderthrough Crawford’s pads to give the Devils a 5-4 lead at 12:15 of thesecond period.Brian Gibbons, with his team-leading eighth goal, made it 6-4 at 17:05before Patrick Kane’s power-play backhander with 2.7 seconds remaining –Brian Boyle had cross check Nick Schmaltz with 8.5 seconds to go –brought the Blackhawks within 6-5 heading into the third period.The Devils flirted with danger in Saturday night’s 2-1 win over thevisiting Panthers by often playing without much structure in their game,leaving Cory Schneider to bail out his teammates with 32 saves for thevictory.Against the more potent Blackhawks, regardless of their scoring woes,Kinkaid could not do the same. The Blackhawks took a 4-1 lead with threegoals in three minutes, 20 seconds in the first period.The blitz started with Schmaltz stripping Hall of the puck just over theDevils’ blue line, quickly turning the play the other way and thenfeeding a trailing Alex DeBrincat for a 2-1 lead at 13:41 with the teamsskating four on four.Defenseman Jan Rutta, with defenseman Damon Severson in the penalty boxfor closing his hand on the puck, connected with a blue-line shot for apower-play goal to make it 3-1 at 16:39. Tanner Kero, just 22 seconds later, capitalized when John Moore couldn’tclear the puck from low in the slot to make it 4-1.Wood had tied thegame at 1 working at the crease on the power play at 3:41 of the firstperiod. Artem Anisimov had tipped Rutta’s blue-line shot past Kinkaidjust 41 seconds into the game.