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Devils Beat Buffalo 2-1 Going into Bye Week

Tomorrow kicks off the Devils five day bye week, as each team gets one as per the latest collective bargaining agreement between the NHL and NHLPA. To paraphrase Taylor Hall, other teams will be winning and accumulating points while the Devils are off, they needed this game tonight.

And they got it, winning 2-1 at Prudential Center over the Buffalo Sabres – their first win on home ice since January 2 against the Bruins.

The Devils’ lineup was once again largely the same, with Karl Stollery in for Kyle Quincey (who is out with an upper body injury) and Devante Smith-Pelly the healthy scratch for the evening. Buffalo was missing Zach Bogosian, William Carrier and Taylor Fedun. Who they were not without tonight was Jack Eichel. The second year superstar missed the first two meetings that the Devils had with the Sabres (both New Jersey wins). The Devils were going for, and got, the season series sweep tonight.

The goaltending matchup featured Robin Lehner for Buffalo, who made 37 saves on 39 Devils shots and a very happy Cory Schneider (the Marblehead, Massachusetts native is a big New England Patriots fan) who made 22 saves on 23 Sabres shots. In a bit of strange trivia, the last time the Devils played after the Pats won the Super Bowl was February 3, 2015 when they faced Ottawa. The score and outcome of that game? The Devils won 2-1. The goaltending matchup? Schneider versus Lehner – who was then playing for the Senators.

Things got off to a chippy start when Joseph Blandisi hit the Sabres’ Tyler Ennis, with what was a clean hit, Nicolas Deslauriers took exception and he and Blandisi dropped the gloves. It was Blandisi’s first NHL fight and, although he did not get the (unofficial) decision, he handled himself well against the bigger and more experienced Deslauriers.

The Devils spent a good portion of the first period in the Buffalo zone, keeping offensive pressure. At one point in the first, for eight minutes, the Sabres did not have a shot on net. Although the Devils had a lot of zone time in the first, they had nothing to show for it on the big board, as they finished the period tied 0-0.

The second period began with a good scoring chance by the Devils when Eichel was able to box out Taylor Hall when Hall had an empty side of the Buffalo net to shoot on. Following that, Jacob Josefson took a nasty hit from Jake McCabe that put him into the stanchion in the glass right near the Devils bench. He would go off and down the tunnel, as it looked pretty bad when his head hit the metal, but he did return later in the second period.

New Jersey finally broke through in the second at 8:46. It was set up when Evander Kane was called for roughing Karl Stollery, putting the Devils on the power play. Michael Cammalleri skated with the puck on the near half wall, giving to Adam Henrique (who is celebrating his 27th birthday today) on the side of the net. Henrique banked the puck off of the skate of Buffalo defenseman Cody Franson and it went in (a move Henrique insists was intentional).

Pavel Zacha had the secondary assist and just like that, the Devils had a 1-0 lead. That goal also gave Henrique the team lead in goals with 15. Henrique also has four goals in the last five games, the only game he has not had a goal was the Columbus game, where he had two assists. The Devils also had their first of two power play goals; the team went 2-for-4 on the power play for the evening while keeping the Sabres 0-for-1, as the Devils did a good job of staying out of the penalty box all night. Lehner would rob Blandisi late in the period with a nice save to keep it 1-0. Lehner had a pretty solid game in the loss.

At the 8:39 mark, Buffalo would tie things up when Tyler Ennis scored his third of the year. He got assists from Kyle Okposo and Justin Falk. The Sabres then nearly took the lead moments later when Marcus Foligno’s shot was tipped in front by Sam Reinhart and hit the post. But it did not go in and the game was still knotted at one.

The game winner was set up when Kane was called for high sticking Hall at the 11:52 mark of the third. On the ensuing power play, Damon Severson slid the puck to Cammalleri at the half wall. He shot and the puck came out to Zacha in front, who swatted at it and found the back of the net. The Sabres immediately challenged from the bench, alleging that Adam Henrique interfered with Lehner, as his stick hit Lehner’s glove, seemingly knocking the puck loose. The referees did not agree, saying that there was no goalie interference and it was a good goal. It was now 2-1 Devils, and that would prove the game winner. Evander Kane was in the box for both of the Devils goals this evening.

Lehner was pulled with about 1:50 left in the game, but Buffalo could not score, despite the Devils constantly icing the puck, not letting their tired defensemen get off of the ice. With repeated face offs in the defensive zone and a tired unit of players on the ice, things looked pretty bad for the Devils. But they got out of it, with Kyle Palmieri blocking one last Buffalo shot in the final seconds.

Now the Devils head into their mandatory five day bye week, where they cannot practice with each other for the five days. New Jersey will reconvene on late afternoon Saturday for a practice and then face the San Jose Sharks at Prudential Center in a 12:30 PM matinee on Sunday, February 12. Right now, with the Devils win and the Flyers loss to St. Louis, the Devils are only three points out of a playoff spot. Did the bye week come at a bad time for the Devils, or will New Jersey pick up where they left off? We will find out the answer to that question on Sunday.

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Devils Win Big in Columbus

The Devils have had a knack for punching above their weight this season. They defeated Minnesota when they were the overall best team in the NHL, they have beaten Washington (by a shootout) and tonight they defeated the Columbus Blue Jackets – a team that at one point this season had a 16 game winning streak and currently sit second in the Metropolitan Division behind only the Capitals – by a score of 5-1. Columbus was 16-3-1 at home coming into tonight’s game in their last 20 games at Nationwide Arena.

The Devils came into the night just seven points behind the Flyers for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. With the win and Philly’s 1-0 overtime loss to Los Angeles earlier today (meaning they only gained one point), that deficit moves to just five points.

Some roster news to get to right away as it broke just prior to the game that the Devils had sent Vernon Fiddler to the Nashville Predators (where he began his NHL career) for a fourth round pick in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft. Also, John Moore has resumed skating; he could be back as soon as Monday’s game against Buffalo or, more likely, after the five day bye week after the Buffalo game. He felt that the bye week coming up was a bad thing for him, as he will not be able to practice with the team for five days (teams on their bye cannot have any official contact with each other throughout the week) and that that would set him back.

The Devils lineup remained largely the same, save a few defensive pairings changed (Andy Greene skated with Ben Lovejoy while Damon Severson was paired with Seth Helgeson). Healthy scratches for the Devils were Devante Smith-Pelly and Karl Stollery. Sitting for Columbus were Josh Anderson, Dalton Prout and David Savard.

Between the pipes, the Devils went back to Cory Schneider and he made 31 saves on 32 Blue Jacket shots. The Jackets also went back to their number one, starting Sergei Bobrovsky, who was 25-for-29 on the night.

The Devils got off to the start that they wanted on the road, notching the first goal of the game. It came at 3:29 of the first period when Travis Zajac and Taylor Hall dug the puck out of the near corner in the Devils’ zone. Zajac headmanned to Kyle Palmieri, who fed Zajac streaking back towards the Columbus net. Zajac quickly dropped the puck to Taylor Hall, who deked around the Columbus defender and backhanded the puck glove side by Bobrovsky. It was 1-0 Devils just like that.

New Jersey knew that they could not tempt fate and take a lot of penalties against the Blue Jackets, as Columbus has the top rated power play in the NHL. Instead, it was the Jackets who went 0-for-2 with the man advantage and the Devils were 1-for-2. Columbus even had a breakdown in discipline when Brandon Dubinsky took a game misconduct at the 11:15 mark of the third period. Columbus had all of their power plays in the first period (a tripping call to Jacob Josefson and an interference call against Ben Lovejoy) and played a pretty clean game after that.

The game stayed 1-0 into the second period when Josefson scored his first of the year to double up the Devils’ lead. It came at the 1:49 mark when Josefson won the offensive zone faceoff back to Andy Greene. Greene shot and Josefson tipped the puck by Bobrovsky to make it 2-0. Almost immediately after that goal, Cory Schneider made a huge save on the Jackets’ Cam Atkinson, preserving the 2-0 lead.

The Devils’ power play goal was set up at 17:35 of the second when Boone Jenner was called for roughing, putting New Jersey on the power play. The Devils would convert when, at 18:58 of the period, Hall and Damon Severson played catch with the Jackets’ blue line. Hall passed down low to PA Parenteau in the slot. He got a shot off and Adam Henrique took a hack at the rebound. The puck popped up and Zajac batted the puck out of the air and into the net to make it 3-0 Devils.

Last night versus Calgary, the Devils took a one goal lead into the third period and could not hold on to it, eventually losing in overtime. Tonight, they had a three goal lead taken into the third period, how would they fair?

At first, it seemed, not too well. At the 19:35 mark of the period, the Blue Jackets had seemingly cut the lead to 3-1. Devils coach John Hynes immediately challenged for goalie interference. It looked like the right skate of the Columbus player in the crease had impeded Cory’s chance to make the save. The referees agreed and said that there was significant evidence that there was goalie interference. With that no goal, the Devils dodged a bullet.

The Devils’ streak of good luck seemed to be continuing when Boone Jenner was called for tripping Andy Greene and Dubinsky went off with the misconduct at 11:15 of the third. Columbus, it seemed, was getting desperate. But they stayed cool and Matt Calvert scored a shorthanded goal at 11:35 of the third from William Karlsson. It was now 3-1 Devils.

The Blue Jackets pulled Bobrovsky with 3:15 left in the third and the Devils jumped right on it, as Taylor Hall scored an empty netter from Ben Lovejoy at the 16:48 mark.

But the Devils were not done there. With 29 seconds remaining in the game, Seth Helgeson scored his first NHL goal when Adam Henrique gave to Steven Santini at the far point. He slid the puck across to Helgeson, who fired a wrist shot that beat Bobrovsky cleanly. It was 5-1 Devils and that is how it would end up.

So, the Devils head into Super Bowl Sunday having won six straight on the road. They will now fly back to Newark, enjoy the Super Bowl tomorrow and then get ready to take on the Buffalo Sabres on Monday. Buffalo is in a similar position as the Devils, so it should be a crucial two points up for grabs. Enjoy the Super Bowl, everyone and see you Monday!