Hagel gets first hat trick as Blackhawks beat Devils 8-5
By JAY COHEN | AP Sports Writer
CHICAGO (AP) — Brandon Hagel celebrated his 100th NHL game with his first career hat trick and a fight with P.K. Subban.
The rest of the Chicago Blackhawks had some fun, too.
Hagel and Patrick Kane each scored three times and Kirby Dach snapped a tie in the third period, leading Chicago to a wild 8-5 victory over the New Jersey Devils on Friday night.
The Blackhawks had dropped three in a row and seven of nine overall.
“That was huge,” interim coach Derek King said. “That was real big.”
Alex DeBrincat and Seth Jones each had three assists for Chicago (19-26-8), and Kevin Lankinen made 31 saves in his return from a right hand injury that had kept him out since Jan. 22.
Jesper Bratt scored twice for New Jersey (18-29-5) for the second straight game. Jack Hughes and Jonas Siegenthaler each had a goal and two assists, and Yegor Sharangovich also scored.
Siegenthaler tied it at 4 with a long shot from the boards outside the left circle, but Dach put Chicago ahead to stay when he kept the puck on a 2-on-1 and beat Jon Gillies with a backhand with 5:56 left.
“Really nice move to hang onto it,” Kane said. “He's got such a long reach. He can really take it from one side of the net to the other and be able to tuck it in like he did.”
After Ryan Carpenter and Bratt exchanged goals, Kane and Hagel completed their hat tricks with empty-netters in the final minutes.
Hagel was taken down by Subban as he skated toward the empty net, and he fought with the veteran defenseman after he scored.
“I have a clear-cut breakaway. Like, what are you going to do?" Hagel said. “It's just a dirty play.”
Subban was not made available to the media after the game.
Gillies made 29 saves for New Jersey, which was coming off an impressive 6-1 victory at Pittsburgh on Thursday night.
“We made mistakes you just can’t make,” coach Lindy Ruff said. “If you want to use the third period, we tie the game and give up the odd-numbered rushes. Back-to-back games where you know you’ve got some fatigue in your game, you’ve got to make them earn it, and we didn’t make them earn it.”
The Blackhawks played without defensemen Jake McCabe and Calvin de Haan because of injuries. McCabe was scratched with lower back soreness, and de Haan was sidelined by a right groin strain.
Chicago trailed 2-1 after one, but it moved in front with three power-play goals in the second. It scored a total of two power-play goals in its previous five games.
Kane tied it at 2 when he beat Gillies on the goaltender's glove side, and then was credited with his 15th of the season when his shot was deflected in by New Jersey defenseman Damon Severson at 11:24.
Hagel got a pass from Kane and scored from the high slot at 14:09, making it 4-2 with his 16th goal.
New Jersey got one back when Bratt got loose for a breakaway and beat Lankinen through the goaltender's legs with 2:17 left. Bratt's 17th goal on the year was set up by a long stretch pass by Severson.
Hagel also turned a New Jersey turnover into the first goal of the game, but Hughes and Sharangovich responded for the Devils. Hughes converted a drive to the net for his 17th on the season, and then picked up his 20th assist when Sharangovich scored with 1:05 left in the first.
HAT TRICKS
It was the first time the Blackhawks had two players score at least three goals in the same game since Eric Daze and Steve Sullivan accomplished the feat during an 8-5 victory over Boston on March 9, 2003.
CENTURY CLUB
Sharangovich and Blackhawks forward Philipp Kurashev also played in their 100th career NHL game.
UP NEXT
Devils: Host the Vancouver Canucks on Monday night.
Blackhawks: Host the St. Louis Blues on Sunday.
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Jay Cohen can be reached at https://twitter.com/jcohenap
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