Schwei's Devils Notes: Defense Steps Up Big To Create Offense

By John Schweibacher
» More Columns

The Devils have won four straight games for the first time since last January and have points in nine of their last 10 as they head out on a four-game road trip.

The Devils swept their home-and-home set against the Sabres with a 4-2 victory on Saturday. Cory Schneider made 21 saves and is now 6-0-0 with a 1.64 goals-against average at Prudential Center this season.

The Elias Sports Bureau notes that Schneider is the first Devils goaltender to win six consecutive games on home ice in one season since Johan Hedberg won his final six home games in 2010-11.

Schneider is also the first New Jersey goalie to begin a season with a six-game home-ice winning streak since Martin Brodeur won his first nine in 1997-98.

Kyle Quincey and John Moore each scored a goal for the Devils in Saturday's win, one night after Yohann Auvitu and Andy Greene scored.

It was the first time in almost three years that New Jersey had two different defensemen score goals in consecutive games. On Nov. 16, 2013, Greene and Adam Larsson scored in a 4-1 win at home over Pittsburgh and four nights later, Marek Zidlicky and Eric Gelinas had goals in a 4-3 overtime victory at Anaheim.

MORE: Lichtenstein: Devils' D Picks Up Slack On Offensive End

Andy Greene's penalty shot goal 29 seconds into overtime gave the Devils a 2-1 win over the Sabres on Friday night in Buffalo. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Greene became just the second NHL defenseman to score a goal on an overtime penalty shot in the regular season since the league introduced the five-minute extra period in 1983. The first was Carolina's Frantisek Kaberle against Nashville on Jan. 13, 2006.

Greene is only the second player in Devils history, forward or defenseman, to attempt an overtime penalty shot in a regular season game.

Patrik Elias had two OT penalty shots, but failed to score both times. Elias' first overtime penalty shot attempt came in an eventual 0-0 tie against the Islanders and goalie John Vanbiesbrouck on Dec. 1, 2000.

The second was against the Isles as well, three years later on Dec. 19, 2003. Elias failed to beat Garth Snow on a penalty shot, but scored later on in the overtime to give New Jersey a 1-0 win.

Auvitu scored the first goal of his NHL career, at 3:13 of the third period, to tie the game at 1. Combined with Greene's game-winner, it was the first 2-1 overtime win in Devils' history in which both goals were scored by defensemen.

The Devils beat the Hurricanes, 3-2, in a shootout on Tuesday at Prudential Center. P.A. Parenteau and Taylor Hall both scored goals in the skills competition to give New Jersey the win in just its third shootout against Carolina, all of which have come on home ice:

-- 11/8/16: Devils 3, Hurricanes 2; (Parenteau & Hall shootout goals)

-- 2/23/14: Hurricanes 2, Devils 1; (Chris Terry shootout goal)

-- 11/7/06: Devils 3, Hurricanes 2; (Gionta & Madden shootout goals)

The Devils' victory on Election Day was a rare occurrence. New Jersey had never played a game on the same date as a presidential election, but did do it once in franchise history as the Colorado Rockies.

On Nov. 2, 1976, the Rockies lost to the Islanders, 5-1, in Denver. Clark Gillies had two goals for New York. Dave Hudson scored the only Rockies goal.

The NHL did not play on two of the previous three presidential election days, in November 2004 and 2012, because of the lockouts that either cancelled or delayed those seasons.

Plus/Minus:

Plus: Solid at "The Rock." New Jersey is undefeated in regulation at home through its first seven games of the season (6-0-1). The last time the Devils started a season without a regulation loss through that many home games was in 1990-91 at the Meadowlands (7-0-1).

Minus: Power Outage. The Devils went 0-for-5 on the power play during Saturday night's win over Buffalo and are now 0-for-20 with the man advantage over their last five games.