If the Blackhawks played like they did Wednesday last season or the year before, they probably would’ve lost by three or four goals. Captain Nick Foligno said as much after the game.
This season’s Hawks have an uncanny knack for getting results, though. They somehow scraped out one point in a 4-3 overtime loss to the Devils despite putting forth one of their worst performances.
“We didn’t have our best, that’s for sure,” coach Jeff Blashill said. “It looked like we had a number of guys without great legs. … Then you’re kind of slow to pucks, you’re kind of slow with the puck and you’re not as sharp when you do have it. We just weren’t as assertive with the puck as we needed to be.
“The other side of it is, we had leads that we definitely squandered. So there are areas we have to clean up.”
The absence of three forwards — Frank Nazar (“mid-body” injury), Jason Dickinson (shoulder injury) and Andre Burakovsky (illness) — was a factor. That took some of the “mojo” out of the top six, pushing Oliver Moore up onto the first line and Ryan Greene onto the second.
The Hawks did get the depth scoring necessary to make up for that, though. After Connor Bedard extended his point streak to nine consecutive games with a five-on-three blast in the first period, just-recalled Landon Slaggert and Sam Lafferty both scored go-ahead goals in the third period — Lafferty’s coming in ridiculously impressive fashion.
Sam Lafferty just did WHAT 🤯 #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/OIdRLYKNW9
— NHL News (@PuckReportNHL) November 13, 2025
They weren’t able to protect those leads, however. Devils defenseman Simon Nemec eventually tied the game with 3:46 left in regulation and ended it 3:28 into overtime, completing his hat trick and dropping the Hawks to 8-5-4 this season.
The Devils’ speed and cohesion burned the Hawks again and again in transition, and goalie Spencer Knight wasn’t able to hold the fort forever. The visitors finished with a 27-11 advantage in scoring chances during five-on-five play.
“One of the things you’re looking for as a coach is who’s going, and it looked like a night when a lot of guys weren’t going,” Blashill said. “By the end of the game, we made an adjustment…that eliminated some of their speed through the neutral zone. It probably took me too long to get to that point, so I’ll take some of the blame on that.
“We love the pressure, but at times we got stretched out. When you get stretched out, you’re giving up some of that speed through the middle, and we weren’t able to hold the line because of it.”