Defenseman Dougie Hamilton had a goal and two assists, Vitek Vanecek made 24 saves in the second game and the NHL-leading New Jersey Devils beat the Chicago Blackhawks 3-0 on Tuesday night at the Prudential Center in Newark.
Nico Hischier and Jesper Bratt scored and Jack Hughes had two impressive assists for the Devils, who are a league-best 21-4-1 despite losing their first two games.
Arvid Soderblom has 26 saves for the Blacks, who are 1-9-1 in their last 11 games. They were also shut out by the New York Islanders 3-0 on Sunday.
At 11:27 of the first half, Hamilton opened the scoring. He came off the bench and skated into the Blackhawks zone, took a great pass from Hughes and beat Soderblom from the left circle.
New Jersey opened the game with goals from Hischier and Bratt in the second period. Hischier’s 11th goal came on a late penalty kick in Chicago, while Bratt’s 10th goal came on the power play.
Hamilton had a secondary assist on both goals.
Hischier hit a shot from the top of the right circle that Soderblom screened after losing his stick.
Hughes, now on a six-game point streak with six goals and four assists, made another cross-ice pass to find Bratt in the right circle for a one-timer into the top corner.
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