Devils Take Home-and-Home Series from Sabres with 4-2 win at The Rock

After their electrifying win last night, which saw Andy Greene score his third overtime goal, 11th game winning goal and first penalty shot goal, the Devils returned home from Buffalo having taken points in 10 of their first 13 games. They have won their last three games and a win tonight would give them their first four game winning streak since January of 2016. They were also looking to sweep both ends of a home-and-home series from the Sabres. They would accomplish just that with a 4-2 win at Prudential Center tonight.

Lineup news as Michael Cammalleri was still out with what is being called a “personal matter.” The team is not sure if he will be out long or short term. Devante Smith-Pelly once again took his spot in the lineup. Also scratched for New Jersey was Reid Boucher.

For Buffalo, they continue to look like the walking wounded. They lost Ryan O’Reilly to injury in the second period of last night’s game and he did not play tonight. Sam Reinhart took his spot on the active roster. Also sitting out for the Sabres was Zach Bogosian and Dmitry Kulikov.

With the backups going last night, tonight saw a more premier matchup between the number one goalies for both teams. Cory Schneider was up for the Devils, making 21 saves on 23 Buffalo shots. Between the pipes for the Sabres was Robin Lehner. He made 23 saves and faced a total of 27 Devils shots.

The Devils did Military Appreciation Night tonight, with more than 300 active and retired military in attendance at the Prudential Center. Tonight also saw the debut of Kyle Palmieri’s “Squad21” initiative. The Devils warmed up in their camo jerseys as well, which are now being auctioned off for charity at NewJerseyDevils.com.

Kyle Quincey got the scoring off, netting his first goal as a Devil at 4:01 of the first period. It came when Damon Severson retrieved the puck out of the near corner in the Sabres zone and passed it to Quincey. He fired it on net, beating Lehner to give the Devils a quick 1-0 lead. Adam Henrique had the other assist on the goal. With that goal, the last three Devils goals to that point had come from defensemen (Yohann Auvitu, Andy Greene and Quincey).

Things would stay 1-0 until early in the second when Marcus Foligno netted his third goal of the season at 3:41 of the middle frame. Former Devil Brian Gionta had the lone assist. The already depleted Sabres had an injury scare in the first period, as Derek Grant had gone off, seemingly injured – the Sabres losing another centerman – but he returned in the second period.

The Devils would not be so lucky with Sergey Kalinin. He blocked a shot off of his foot in the third period and did not return for the end of the period.

The game remained tied until 6:11 of the second period, when Nick Lappin notched his second career NHL goal to give the Devils the lead again. Taylor Hall broke in on the forecheck, grabbing the puck and sending a beautiful saucer pass across to Lappin, who was cutting in behind the defense. He made a pinpoint shot to beat Lehner and make it 2-1 Devils.

Before the second period was out, the Devils would have a 3-1 lead. At 11:17 of that period, Damon Severson skated the puck up the left wing, with Adam Henrique going to the net as a screen. Severson gave the puck to Kyle Palmieri along the right side and he fired, scoring to give the Devils the two goal cushion. Andy Greene had the other assist, giving him a two game point-scoring streak. This was, of course, a special goal for Palmieri. Not only was “Squad21” in attendance along with the hundreds of other military folks, but it also broke his personal goal drought.

But it was not without some degree of controversy. Buffalo coach Dan Bylsma decided to use his coach’s challenge to see if Palmieri entered the zone before the puck carrier, Severson, making him offside. The linesmen reviewed the replay, which showed he was not. The call on the ice stood and it was a good goal.

In the third period, the Devils added another insurance goal at 6:32 when Taylor Hall gave the puck to Henrique in the neutral zone. Henrique skated up the right wing boards, feeding John Moore with a nice pass that he used to slide the puck through Lehner’s five hole. This goal came four-on-four as Evander Kane of Buffalo had gone off for hooking and Severson of the Devils was off for cross-checking. The Devils would soon go on the power play when Nicholas Baptiste was called for tripping PA Parenteau right after the Moore goal.

Overall, it was another lackluster night for the Devils with the man advantage; they went 0-for-5 on the power play while the Sabres, the ninth ranked power play as a team in the NHL coming into tonight, went 0-for-1.

Buffalo would make things a little bit more interesting when Matt Moulson scored his first even strength goal of the year (his five others were power play goals) with assists to Grant and Cody Franson. That made it 4-2 Devils, which was the final score. The Devils ended the game on the power play when Foligno was called for high-sticking Ben Lovejoy at 18:08 of the third.

Power play weakness aside, it was a good night for the Devils overall. A few New Jersey players had multi-point nights: Severson had two assists; Hall had two assists, as did Henrique. They had a better second period, an issue that has plagued them this year so far. But they are on a roll.

And they will need to continue to stay on a roll. Next up is a western road trip that will take them to Dallas on Tuesday to play the Stars, Anaheim on Thursday, Los Angeles on Saturday and San Jose a week from this coming Monday.

A western swing is always difficult for any team, the Devils being no exception. New Jersey will likely try to use this Texas and California road trip as a building block in trying to remain competitive.

Devils Defeat Sabres in OT on Andy Greene Penalty Shot

After sweeping a home-and-home with the Carolina Hurricanes, the Devils moved on to Buffalo to begin another home-and-home (this time a back-to-back as the teams get together again tomorrow night in New Jersey) with the Sabres. It will be the Devils’ only trip to the Western New York city this season.

The night began with some strange lineup news: Michael Cammalleri was out of the lineup for “personal reasons” and would not make the trip with the team. Devante Smith-Pelly was back in the lineup in Cammalleri’s place. Hopefully everything is okay with Cammalleri and his family, as it was not announced as of game time what the issue was.

The main story for the Devils tonight was the power play. The Devils went 0-for-6 with the man advantage, including a 5-on-3 in the second period and a four minute 5-on-4 in the third. But they still found a way to come out with the two points despite this.

The backups got the net for both teams. Keith Kinkaid started for the Devils, making 25 saves on 26 Sabres shots. But that only tells half of the story, as he was magnificent for a good portion of the game – although he did get off to a rough start when he bobbled a dump in early in the first period, getting a rise out of the crowd, but nothing more. But he also came up big for New Jersey, including a huge save on Marcus Foligno in the first moments after that bobble.

Facing him between the pipes for the Sabres was Anders Nilsson. Nilsson made 41 saves on 43 Devils shots. The Devils have had some trouble with Nilsson in his career: he had four wins in six starts coming into tonight versus the Devils, including his first NHL win when he was a member of the Islanders. Nilsson also made some nice stops, including a nice glove save on Taylor Hall on a 2-on-1 in the middle of the second period.

Buffalo got the first marker of the game on the power play which was set up when Nick Lappin went off for tripping Jake McCabe. The Sabres, who went 1-for-2 with the man advantage, would convert when former Islanders Matt Moulson and Kyle Okposo would connect to give them a 1-0 lead. Ryan O’Reilly had the other assist. The puck bounced out to Moulson in front of the net and he buried it.

And that was it for the scoring until early in the third. But it was not without chances. First, at 14:38, Josh Gorges was called for holding against Damon Severson. The Devils were a man up, and then Rasmus Ristolainen put the puck over the glass while trying to clear his zone and he went off at 15:13 for delay of game. Not only did the Devils have 1:25 of a 5-on-3 power play, but Buffalo’s top defense pairing was in the penalty box together. They, of course, did not score on that chance.

The Sabres also had their chances, including a juicy rebound left on the doorstep when the Devils were killing off a Damon Severson slashing penalty in the second. Ben Lovejoy was able to clear the crease while Kinkaid was down.

The Devils would tie up the game at 3:13 of the second period when Travis Zajac won an offensive zone faceoff back to the point. The puck was fired wide and came to Taylor Hall, who gave it to Yohann Auvitu at the near point. He cranked one that just got by Nilsson’s glove hand and that looked initially like it was tipped in front by Zajac, but was given to Auvitu. That was his first NHL goal and tied the game at one.

That was where it would stay. Kinkaid made a huge save right after the Auvitu goal on Evander Kane to keep things tied up and would also take a bump from former Devil Brian Gionta when he went for a popped up puck at 11:01 of the third.

Buffalo’s Kane would go on to play a big role in the rest of the game for the Devils. First, he clipped Jacob Josefson at 12:17 with a high stick that drew a double minor and a four minute power play for the Devils. New Jersey would not convert.

Eventually, the game would move to overtime, as the Devils had picked up at least a point ten of thirteen games this season so far. The three-on-three was moving smoothly when, at the 29 second mark of the extra session, Andy Greene was hauled down by Kane on a breakaway. He was all alone on net when he was pulled down from the back-checking Kane and a penalty shot was called. The game was on Greene’s stick, would the captain deliver?

He did. Greene skated in on his first ever career NHL penalty shot – playing in his 324th consecutive game (I wrote the number incorrectly the last game), moved to his forehand and snuck it five hole by Nilsson. The Devils had won the game 2-1. It was the first time they had won a game on a penalty shot by a defenseman since November 11, 1998 (eighteen years ago to the day) when Scott Niedermayer did it.

Up next for the Devils, they will look to take another home-and-home series when the Sabres travel in to Newark. Congratulations to Yohann Auvitu and Andy Greene on their achievements and here’s hoping all is well for Michael Cammalleri and his family.