Blackhawks know they need a better start against Devils

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Brandon Mashinter will get his first start with the Blackhawks when they face the New Jersey Devils Thursday night at the United Center.

The Blackhawks struggled from the start in their 4-2 loss to the Devils last Friday; the Devils got out to a 3-0 lead and Corey Crawford was pulled after allowing those three goals in the first period.

The Blackhawks say they’ve learned their lesson in, perhaps, taking the Devils too lightly.

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“They get everything from hard work and stick together as a team. They’re sound defensively; they play a quiet game,” Andrew Shaw said. “They have success with it, so we have to come out here and outwork them and be prepared for a good Devils team.”

The Devils have won four of their last six games. Crawford will start for the Blackhawks and Cory Schneider is expected to start for the Devils. Teuvo Teravainen, who missed the end of Wednesday’s practice, will also play.

“We need to be ready,” coach Joel Quenneville said. “We warned them the Devils are playing well, playing hard. They play a very organized team game, lot of structure there but not a lot of time. We got better in that game later on, but we need to start much quicker and we’re respectful of what they can do.”

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