NEWARK, N.J. -- Center Travis Zajac scored his sixth goal and goaltender Cory Schneider made 27 saves as the New Jersey Devils defeated the Chicago Blackhawks 4-2 at Prudential Center on Friday.

The Devils have won seven of their past nine games while the Blackhawks have just one win in their past five games.

Zajac and right wingers Lee Stempniak and Kyle Palmieri had a goal and an assist each and left winger Mike Cammalleri also scored for the Devils.

Right winger Patrick Kane extended his points streak to nine games with his eighth goal of the season and center Tanner Kero scored his first NHL goal for Chicago.

Goaltender Corey Crawford was saddled with the loss after stopping just 10 of 13 shots in the first period. Backup Scott Darling took over in the second and stopped 12 of 13 shots in relief.

A three-goal barrage over the first 20 minutes gave the Devils a 3-0 lead after one period.

Stempniak took advantage of sloppy puck handling by defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson to put the Devils ahead 1-0 at 3:48. Hjalmarsson flubbed a pass in his own zone, which allowed Stempniak to steal the puck and beat Crawford through the legs for his third goal of the season.

Exactly 14 minutes later, Palmieri made it 2-0. Zajac won an offensive-zone draw, and Palmieri hammered a shot short side that got past Crawford for his fourth of the season.

Twenty seconds after a fight between Blackhawks center Jonathan Toews and Devils center Adam Henrique, Zajac carved through the defense and snapped a shot that eluded Crawford to make it 3-0.

Cammalleri extended the lead to 4-0 at 7:28. Defenseman Damon Severson completed a cross-ice pass to Cammalleri, whose quick shot hit the back of the net as Darling was still moving from left to right.

Kane got the Blackhawks on the board with 1:18 remaining in the second period. He flipped a long wrist shot through traffic that hit the top corner of the net with Schneider screened.

Kero capped the scoring with 1:26 remaining in the third period.

NOTES: The Blackhawks were missing two key pieces in D Duncan Keith (knee) and RW Marian Hossa (lower body). Coach Joel Quenneville said Hossa could return Sunday when the Blackhawks host Edmonton. ... Blackhawks D Michal Rozsival has not played since suffering a fractured ankle during the 2015 postseason. ... Blackhawks D David Rundblad was a healthy scratch. ... Devils LW Jiri Tlusty returned after missing two games with a shoulder injury. ... Devils LW Patrik Elias (knee) and LW Tuomo Ruutu (foot) did not play. ... Devils LW Stefan Matteau and D Eric Gelinas were healthy scratches.