Simon Nemec scored a hat trick and Jacob Markstrom made 17 saves on 20 shots in the New Jersey Devils‘ 4-3 overtime victory over the Chicago Blackhawks on Wednesday night at the United Center.
“He showed the forwards how to do it,” head coach Sheldon Keefe said of Nemec. “All three goals he is in forward positioning and finishing it. But good on him to find those spots and to finish. We worked this morning about activating our D and getting our defense involved and he certainly was paying attention.”
“That was probably the first hat trick in my career,” Nemec told NJD.TV. “I was never a shooter or a scoring guy. I’m glad for that, but obviously a great team win.”
Blackhawks star Connor Bedard opened the scoring with 1:25 remaining in the first period while Chicago was on a five-on-three power play with Luke Hughes and Brenden Dillon in the penalty box.
More important than the 1-0 score after 20 minutes was the Devils losing two forwards, Cody Glass and Zack MacEwen, with apparent injuries.
At the 7:27 mark, MacEwen got hit by Connor Murphy behind Chicago’s goal. The 29-year-old looked to be in pain as he made his way to the bench and down the tunnel. In the final seconds of the period, Glass crashed into the boards and was holding his arm as he skated off the ice into the Devils’ locker room.
Glass came out for the second period and was on the ice for one 17-second shift before disappearing back to the locker room. MacEwen did not return.
Per reporters in Chicago, there is no update on Glass or MacEwen. The club will be off on Thursday, so any news will wait until Friday.
Even with a depleted lineup, the Devils tied the game with 14 seconds remaining in the middle frame. Nemec’s backhand shot beat Blackhawks’ goaltender Spencer Knight for a tied 1-1 score entering the second intermission. It marked the first time in the 21-year-old’s career that he scored in back-to-back games.
With the Devils down to 10 forwards, Chicago regained the lead in the opening minutes of the third period. Landon Slaggert, who was recalled from the American Hockey League on Wednesday morning, scored his first goal of the season on a tip-in.
For a second time, New Jersey tied the game. The Devils’ new-look top line delivered, with Dawson Mercer scoring his ninth goal of the season. Jack Hughes and Arseny Gritsyuk collected the assists.
Sam Lafferty gave Chicago their third lead of the night, but it was short-lived as Nemec scored his second of the night less than three minutes later. Hughes picked up his second assist of the period.
Nemec called the game 3:26 into overtime for his first career NHL hat trick. Markstrom picked up the primary assist for his second point of 2025-26.
“He was waving for it with his stick, he was wide open, ” Markstrom told NJD.TV. “A little soft pass, he had to wait for it a little bit, but it was his night tonight. Huge game for him and to top it off with the OT hat trick is huge.”
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