In Chicago, the Blackhawks were unable to find a path to defeating the New Jersey Devils on Sunday night.
Vitek Vanecek made 32 saves in the New Jersey win.
It was the first game for New Jersey without Jack Hughes who is week to week with an upper body injury.
“Life’s a lot better, that’s for sure,” said New Jersey’s Curtis Lazar (goal. “The two points is first and foremost. Again, we fought hard. Did not start well at all, pretty sloppy, moving pucks slow, just our execution wasn’t there.
“We took it upon ourselves here to [say], ‘Enough is enough, let’s bear down, let’s push the pace, let’s simplify our game.’ You saw, as the game went on, we started to do that. We generated more looks. Ultimately, it got a little dicey at the end there. Teams are going to push, but we got the job done.”
Chicago took a 1-0 lead in the first period on a marker from Taylor Hall at 1:51.
New Jersey replied with three straight goals for a 3-1 lead into the third period.
Dawson Mercer tied it at 1-1 at 13:07 off the power play.
Max Willman struck at 14:41 of the first for a 2-1 lead to New Jersey, he was called up from the Utica Comets of the American Hockey League.
“We played the other night in Rochester, and when we got back from the road trip, coach [Kevin Dineen] gave me the news,” Willman said. “Quick turnaround, pack the bags and hop on a flight and meet the guys here. Definitely exciting last couple of days.”
After a scoreless second period, Lazar hit for a goal at 4:35 for a 3-1 advantage.
The Hawks got one back when Ryan Donato s scored at 14:15 to trim the deficit to 3-2.
Michael McLeod potted an empty-net goal with one second left on the game clock for the 4-2 final.
“We’ve just got to rely on each other more,” Donato said. “It’s tough. We showed up tonight, and we can say what we want to do, sometimes we don’t execute. I think it’s just holding each other accountable, growing as a team and becoming a brotherhood like a lot of guys have said in here.
“The more we can rely on each other, the more we can grow as a team. Obviously, tonight it hurt a little bit. A lot of the things we preach, we didn’t do. It came back to bite us.”
The Blackhawks held a players only meeting after the game.
“I wasn’t in on it, and that’s good,” Chicago coach Luke Richardson said. “I think they hear enough from me before and during the game. If they feel there’s something that needs to be said, it usually goes a longer way when the leadership guys and whoever feels a need to speak speaks up.
Chicago dropped to 4-7-0.
“Essentially just being accountable and playing with the system we’ve installed through training camp and through the first few games of the season,” forward Corey Perry said of the meeting. “We do it in spurts, but we’ve got to do it for the full game. We had a good heart to heart, and we’ll move on.”
Arvid Soderblom made 36 saves in the loss.
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