Jack Hughes scores twice as Devils rally past Blackhawks 5-3

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NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Dougie Hamilton and Jack Hughes scored 19 seconds apart late in the third period and Jake Allen made 28 saves as the New Jersey Devils rallied to defeat the Chicago Blackhawks 5-3 on Sunday night.

With New Jersey trailing 3-2, Hamilton scored at 14:32 before Hughes scored at 14:51 to put the home team ahead and electrify the Prudential Center crowd. Hughes — who also had two assists — added his 22nd goal of the season into an empty net with 31 seconds left.

Connor Brown and Simon Nemec also scored for New Jersey, which has won six of its last eight games.

With the Blackhawks on a 5-on-3 advantage, Frank Nazar rifled a pass from Connor Bedard past Allen at 10:51 of the third for his second goal of the night. Ilya Mikheyev also scored for Chicago, which ended its four-game trip with a third-straight loss after resounding defeats to the Flyers and Rangers.

Mikheyev started the scoring with his 15th goal at 4:19 of the first.

Brown tied it with his 15th goal at 11:15.

Nazar put the visitors ahead 2-1 at 13:11 of the first. A first-round pick by Chicago in 2022, Nazar was one of 11 players on the Blackhawks roster on Sunday age 23 or younger.

Nemec tied the contest 2-2 at 15:48 of the second with his 11th goal of the season, assisted by Dawson Mercer who was playing his 401st consecutive game to tie Travis Zajac for the franchise record.

Chicago will miss the postseason for the sixth-straight season.

Spencer Knight made 35 saves in defeat.

New Jersey is 10 points behind Columbus for the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference with nine games remaining.

Devils captain Nico Hischier played his 600th career game. The 27-year-old forward from Switzerland was the first overall pick by New Jersey in the 2017 draft.

Blackhawks: Host Winnipeg on Tuesday.

Devils: Visit Rangers on Tuesday.

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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl