NEWARK, N.J. _ Now, the Devils can focus on their three-day holiday break.
Because they didn't look past the Blackhawks and to their mini-vacation.
It wasn't 60 minutes of dominance, not with the way they were outshot in the second period, but the Devils started quickly and wound up routing the Blackhawks, 4-1, on Saturday night at Prudential Center as they chased goalie Corey Crawford for the second time this season.
The only down note for the Devils (21-9-5), who have a season-high four-game winning streak, was only briefly being able to remain fully healthy.
Saturday marked the first time this season all of their forwards were available. But Brian Boyle, after scoring the Devils' first goal, was not on the bench for the third period. Then, Kyle Palmieri, who had scored the game's second goal in his third game back after missing 12 with a broken right foot, was blindsided in the neutral zone and headed to the Devils' room at 9:09 of the third period.
The Devils did not have an immediate update on either valuable veteran.
Cory Schneider made 39 saves as the Blackhawks (17-13-5), who have lost the first two games of their six-game road trip, outshot the Devils, 40-29.
The Devils have so far swept this season-high six-game homestand, which continues on Wednesday against the Red Wings, and were coming off two of their more emotional victories of the season. On Monday, they topped the Ducks, 5-3, as longtime fan favorite Adam Henrique returned for the first time since being traded on Nov. 30. On Thursday night, the Devils rallied for a 4-3, four-round shootout win over the rival Rangers.
Devils coach John Hynes said he spent considerable time both on Friday and during the pre-game meetings stressing the need to focus on finishing strong before the holiday break.
"Tonight is a mental toughness game," Hynes said. "It's not about looking at a break. It's not about looking at what happened last game."
The Blackhawks had badly outplayed the Devils in the second period but Taylor Hall scored a crucial goal after being sprung for a breakaway at 2:02 of the third period to make it 4-1.
Boyle, with his 10th goal of the season and his fourth in his last three games, not including the decisive shootout goal over the Rangers, gave the Devils a 1-0 lead at 2:48 as his less-than-blistering wrist shot from the left point beat Crawford.
Palmieri's deflected power-play shot from the right circle at 9:20, seven seconds after he drew a slashing call on Jonathan Toews in the neutral zone, made it 2-0. And Pavel Zacha, who had gone 24 games without a goal after scoring twice in a 6-3 win at Toronto on Oct. 11, made it 3-0 at 13:22 as Stefan Noesen found him open in the slot.
That drove Crawford from the game after facing just seven shots. The Blackhawks' No. 1 goalie had also been pulled from the Devils' win at Chicago after two periods as he allowed six goals on 25 shots.
Backup Anton Forsberg wasn't heavily tested, either as the Blackhawks took nine of the first 11 shots in the second period and outshot the Devils, 22-7, over the middle 20 minutes. Patrick Kane, with a low wrist shot from high in the left circle, cut the lead to 3-1 at 17:18 with his 300th career goal.
Schneider had twice stopped Kane on a rush at 3:24 of the second period and also stoned Ryan Hartman twice in a sequence at 11:50.
Forsberg turned aside rookie Jesper Bratt's penalty shot at 12:36 of the third period after Bratt was pulled down by Nick Schmaltz on a short-handed breakaway.
