The Chicago Blackhawks have had a rough go on their East Coast road trip. They earned a win over the New York Islanders on Tuesday, but they would not say that they played particularly well. They found a way to hang onto their built-up lead, but their play was a sign of things to come. The back-to-back on Thursday and Friday against the Philadelphia Flyers and New York Rangers was a disaster for Chicago. They lost both by a combined score of 11-2. This game went a little differently. The Blackhawks played well to open the game. They looked like the team that had a day off, while the Devils looked like they played one night prior (loss to the Carolina Hurricanes). Early on, New Jersey goalie Jake Allen gave the puck away to Anton Frondell behind the net, and he found Ilya Mikheyev, who scored one of the easiest goals he'll ever score to make it 1-0. The Devils tied it just after the halfway point of the first period, as Connor Brown tipped in a Luke Hughes shot. Just under two minutes later, however, Frank Nazar regained the lead for the Blackhawks with his 13th goal of the season. That 2-1 score held through the first intermission. In the second period, the Devils severely outplayed the Blackhawks. New Jersey outshot Chicago 16-5, but thanks to Spencer Knight, only one goal was scored. Simon Nemec's game-tying goal made it 2-2. The final frame was a back-and-forth affair. Penalties had something to do with that, as the Blackhawks took a 3-2 lead with a two-man advantage. Frank Nazar completed a pretty passing play with him, Connor Bedard, and Anton Frondell for his second of the game. At that point, it looked like the Blackhawks were going to skate away with a win. Sometimes, coming up with that extra goal to reward a goalie is needed for the dressing room. That would not be the case in this one, as Jack Hughes of the New Jersey Devils took over from there. Working with one assist already, Hughes set up a snipe by Dougie Hamilton to tie things up at 3. His cross-ice feed gave Hamilton all the room he needed to challenge Knight's far side. Just 19 seconds later, Jack Hughes scored a goal of his own to give the Devils a 4-3 lead. To seal the deal, he threw one into an empty net to seal a 5-3 Devils win. In yet another game in which the Blackhawks gave up 40 shots, Spencer Knight kept them in it with 35 saves. Both Chicago goalies have been excellent, but the young defense in front of them is living up to their age and inexperience. Three young forwards presented a positive for the Blackhawks in this game. For one, Connor Bedard's 68th point set a new career high. He would have blown past that a while ago if he had never hurt his shoulder, but he has 8 games to build on that and go into next year ready to take another step. Frank Nazar's first career multi-goal game set and extended a new career high in goals. When he's going strong, the Blackhawks are a stronger team in all three zones and on special teams, and he's been going strong for the last couple of weeks. Anton Frondell had two assists in this game. It was his first career multi-point game, and he now has four points in four games played. He possesses a big shot, but he is still searching for his first goal to go with four assists. Based on his play, it won't be long before he finds that goal. This game was an improvement over the first three on the road trip, despite the loss. They played better and competed much harder. Spencer Knight masked some mistakes, but this is all a part of their process. Watch Every Chicago Goal Whatâs Next For The Blackhawks? The Chicago Blackhawks will be back in action again on Tuesday night when they will be back at the United Center to take on Jonathan Toews and the Winnipeg Jets. Image [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/951141f3-f8a4-49f7-b396-821f8ec29930.jpeg] Visit The Hockey News Chicago Blackhawks [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/chicago-blackhawks/] team site to stay updated on the latest news [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/nashville-predators/latest-newshttps://thehockeynews.com/nhl/chicago-blackhawks/latest-news], game-day [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/nashville-predators/game-dayhttps://thehockeynews.com/nhl/chicago-blackhawks/game-day] coverage, player features [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/nashville-predators/playershttps://thehockeynews.com/nhl/chicago-blackhawks/players], and more. For action-packed issues, access to the entire magazine archive and a free issue, subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free [https://thehockeynews.store/products/print-subscription]. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here [http://eepurl.com/i7OC4I]. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com or creating your own post in our community forum.
