Schmid makes 33 saves, Devils defeat Sabres

BUFFALO --The New Jersey Devils won for the 14th time in 15 games, 3-1 against the Buffalo Sabres at KeyBank Center on Friday.

Akira Schmid made 33 saves for the Devils (17-4-0), who have won nine in a row on the road. Their 13-game winning streak ended Wednesday with a 2-1 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs.
"We had a really good team performance, all four lines did a great job playing fast, we were minimizing their chances," New Jersey forward Jesper Bratt said. "We know like Toronto they've got a lot of offensive skills and speed, and I think we minimized their chances and 'Schmidy' had a great game in net and helped us a lot with the chances throughout the game."

Craig Anderson made 41 saves, and Victor Olofsson scored for the Sabres (9-12-0), who have lost nine of their past 11 games.
"The way they played, you could've gotten run out of the building; any team could've tonight," Buffalo coach Don Granato said. "They're a team that's feeling it right now, and I give our guys credit. 'Andy' was great; he looked like an experienced No. 1 goaltender there many times. … I know our guys didn't feel it; I could tell by the way they did things the very first shift, just the way they went back for the puck and what they did with it. It was like, 'We might be in for one right now.'
"So, for us as coaches, we wanted to see them compete and work. We were able to elevate that, the goal that Olofsson scored, [Casey] Mittelstadt, Olofsson, was just a complete footrace, and that's what we needed. We needed to start concentrating on battles, winning battles. We still were disjointed, never got in a rhythm, but the battle level was better, and we needed to see that above all else. But not enough out of the game. It's a good game for us to take and learn from and make sure we're better because of it."

The Devils were in control for much of the first period, outshooting the Sabres 16-7, including an 8-1 advantage in the first 7:13.
"I think the game the other day (against Toronto), we got away a little bit from getting pucks on net, getting some net-front presence and all that stuff," Bratt said. "I think that was an improvement, even if we didn't get any goals."
Jack Hughes gave New Jersey a 1-0 lead at 2:00 of the second period when he finished off a quick passing play from the right face-off circle.
Jesper Boqvist made it 2-0 at 5:47. Yegor Sharangovich picked up a loose puck behind the net after Buffalo defenseman Mattias Samuelsson fell and sent a backhand pass to Boqvist, whose shot from inside the left circle went off Anderson's shoulder and into the net.
Olofsson cut it to 2-1 at 14:19 off a backhand feed from Casey Mittelstadt in the high slot on a 2-on-1 rush.
"I think the effort was good," Olofsson said. "We came out a little bit slow in the first, and they did everything a little bit faster than us. And then we started skating a little bit more, getting pucks deep in the second and worked our way into the game. From there, I think it was a tight game."

Tomas Tatar responded off the rush to make it 3-1 at 17:55. After winning a defensive zone face-off, Nico Hischier skated through the neutral zone before sending a pass to Tatar, who beat Anderson inside the far post from the left circle.
Schmid made 13 saves in the third period.
"We came out really well in this game," Devils coach Lindy Ruff said. "We got the lead. We talked about not losing two games in a row, and I thought overall we got a really good team effort."
NOTES: It was Ruff's 799th NHL win; he is fifth on the all-time list behind Scotty Bowman (1,244), Joel Quenneville (969), Barry Trotz (914) and Ken Hitchcock (849). … New Jersey has won at least nine straight road games for the third time in its history. The Devils won 10 in a row on the road in 2000-01 and nine straight in 2009-10. … Sharangovich extended his point streak to five games (three goals, three assists). … New Jersey is 15-0-0 this season when Hischier has a point. … Sabres forward Kyle Okposo returned after missing six games because of a lower-body injury. He had five shots on goal in 14:19 of ice time. … Buffalo defenseman Casey Fitzgerald had one shot in 12:06 after being a healthy scratch in five of the previous eight games. He is the son of Devils general manager Tom Fitzgerald.