The Chicago Blackhawks came into Prudential Center to face the New Jersey Devils on Saturday afternoon. It was the first career start for Drew Commesso, who was recently called up from the Rockford IceHogs of the American Hockey League (AHL). He played pretty well, but that didn’t stop the Devils from riding a third-period onslaught to a 4-1 victory.
The first period was a relatively boring one. The Devils were definitely the better team, but they still didn’t have a ton of chances. Commesso made the stops when he needed to, and certainly chose not to shy away from being aggressive and challenging shooters.
In the second period, the Blackhawks hit a few crossbars but couldn’t find twine. That changed 13:31 in, as the hockey gods made up for it in a strange way: a Jason Dickinson shot hit off the crossbar, ricocheted off Luke Hughes’ face and into the net.
But the Devils answered back quickly into the third, as L. Hughes made a tremendous pass to Dawson Mercer, who buried it. Then there was an incredible sequence where the Devils had the puck in the offensive zone for what felt like a lifetime. Jesper Bratt made a hit to free the puck up to Brett Pesce, who passed it to Jack Hughes, who sniped it past Commesso.
We'll be watching this one on repeat. pic.twitter.com/tcKjBrT1dt
— New Jersey Devils (@NJDevils) December 14, 2024
The Blackhawks seemed deflated after that, and rightfully so. The Devils scored two more goals in the next 126 seconds – Nico Hischier and Timo Meier – to up the lead to 4-1.
Jesper Bratt told The Hockey Writers, “We knew it was going to come down to second opportunities and make (Commesso) move and just stick with it. The game was far from over (after the second)…there’s a team in here that never gives up.” They shut it down defensively afterwards, cruising to a victory.
The Devils will be back in action on Tuesday to face the St. Louis Blues at 8 PM ET. The Blackhawks will face the New York Islanders at 3 PM ET on Sunday.
