Blackwood's first NHL shutout lifts Devils past Hurricanes

Mackenzie Blackwood
made 37 saves for his first NHL shutout to lift the New Jersey Devils to a 2-0 win against the Carolina Hurricanes at Prudential Center on Saturday.

The shutout came in Blackwood's third NHL start, two days after the 22-year-old rookie made 40 saves in his first win, 5-2 against the Boston Bruins on Thursday. He has allowed two goals or fewer in each of his five appearances this season.
"It's an awesome deal. Everyone dreams about this kind of stuff," Blackwood said to MSG+. "It's awesome, but the challenge here is to keep moving forward and keep having success. ... To stay in the National Hockey League, you have to be consistent. So it's awesome, but turning again to the team, they really made my job a lot easier. Kudos to them. I can't say enough good stuff about that."
WATCH: [All Hurricanes vs. Devils highlights]
Pavel Zacha and Andy Greene scored for the Devils (14-16-7), who are 3-1-0 in their past four games after losing 11 of their previous 13 (2-6-5). New Jersey won consecutive games for the first time since Nov. 13 and 15.
Curtis McElhinney made 28 saves for the Hurricanes (15-17-5), who are 2-6-1 in their past nine games. They have scored one goal or fewer in four of their past five.
Zacha gave the Devils a 1-0 lead with his second shorthanded goal of the season at 19:24 of the second period.
"We're playing really good 5-on-5. We're giving everything we can," Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour said. "In pretty much every game this year, our 5-on-5 has been fine. We're in every game. Tonight is the same thing. That was a good game. We were in good shape."
After chipping the puck past Justin Faulk at the blue line, Zacha went on a breakaway before shooting off McElhinney's pads and scoring on the rebound.

"That was a big one," Devils coach John Hynes said. "I think it gives you a little bit more energy. It kind of livens the building up a little bit when you wind up scoring a goal like that, and it was nice for [Zacha]. He's played some good hockey as of late, and he's earning himself more and more ice time. He's got a couple shorthanded goals, so that's good. I think he's taken pride in that."
Greene scored an empty-net goal with 33 seconds remaining to make it 2-0.
Carolina was 0-for-5 with five shots on goal on the power play. It has not scored in 23 straight opportunities.
"[The power play] cost us the game again," Brind'Amour said. "The more we practice it, the worse we get. So got to probably not practice it for a while because it's all we've done the last three weeks is practice it. It's not getting better. We threw guys out that don't even play the power play and they actually did it right.
"So that's the problem. The guys got to look in the mirror a little bit, our better players, when they're getting these opportunities. The funny thing is now it's in their head a little."
Teuvo Teravainen appeared to tie the game 1-1 with 1:58 remaining in the third, but the goal was waved off because of goalie interference. The ruling on the ice was upheld after the Hurricanes used a coach's challenge.

They said it

"I feel like every time I stand in front of you guys, it's the same old story. I don't know what else to say." -- Hurricanes forward Sebastian Aho
"[Blackwood] is just playing really well. He's very square. He's really confident back there. He's making a lot of big saves. He's so big and so athletic. He's never out of a play. I think he's getting more comfortable, like most young guys, every shift and every game. He's getting more confidence and it's been fun to watch." -- Devils captain Andy Greene

Need to know

Hurricanes forward Jordan Staal missed his third straight game with an upper-body injury. ... Carolina was also without defenseman Haydn Fleury, who practiced on Friday but has missed seven games with a concussion. ... Devils forward Taylor Hall missed his second straight game with a lower-body injury. He leads New Jersey with 37 points (11 goals, 26 assists) in 33 games this season. ... Blackwood has made 130 saves on 136 shots in his first five NHL games (.956 save percentage). ... Zacha had one goal and one assist. It was his second multi-point game of the season and his first since he had two goals in a 5-2 win against the Montreal Canadiens on Nov. 21. ... Greene passed Brian Rafalski for fourth all-time in Devils history for goals by a defenseman with his 45th. Bruce Driver is third with 83.

What's next

Hurricanes:Host the Philadelphia Flyers on Monday (6 p.m. ET; FS-CR, NBCSP, NHL.TV)
Devils:Host the Vancouver Canucks on Monday (1 p.m. ET; MSG+, SNP, NHL.TV)