Scouting report: Blackhawks vs. Devils
Blackhawks vs. New Jersey Devils, 7:30 p.m. Thursday at United Center
TV: WGN
Radio: WGN 720-AM
The skinny: New Jersey is just 3-7-1 since dominating the Blackhawks in an 8-5 victory on Jan. 14. The Devils lost 8-3 at St. Louis on Tuesday, falling behind 6-1 in under 36 minutes. "We need to make sure we're working on the things that we weren't good at tonight - which is a lot of things - and we've got to be better against Chicago," Devils coach John Hynes told reporters. … While the Blackhawks have three players with at least 50 points - Patrick Kane (33G, 49A), Jonathan Toews (25-31) and Alex DeBrincat (29-25) - New Jersey's top scorer is Kyle Palmeri (24-18) with just 42. Rookie Nico Hischier (16-24) is next with 40. … Taylor Hall, last season's league MVP, has been out since late December with an undisclosed lower-body injury. … The Hawks are 2-5-0 vs. New Jersey in their last seven meetings.
Next: Columbus Blue Jackets, 7:30 p.m. Thursday at United Center
- John Dietz