Poulter Shines in Victory Over Sabres | GAME STORY

In front of a full house in Buffalo, the Devils and Sabres played a close, physical affair.

Despite giving up the first goal of the game, the Devils worked their way back to the lead and a 5-2 final score. They are now 2-0-0 to start their three-game tournament.

Goaltender Isaac Poulter was phenomenal against the hard-working Sabres facing 34 shots and letting in just two goals. The Devils found themselves on the wrong side of several penalty calls, taking six penalties and only once conceding a goal in big part to Poulter’s agility and calmness.

"He gave up one early and I think he wasn’t crazy about that goal," Kevin Dineen, Utica's head coach said, "From there he just settled right in. I think he was under siege at times, I think we had some management issues with the puck but hey, goaltenders make good hockey teams and we were really happy with his solid effort.”

The hometown team opened the scoring 5:29 in the game on a goal by Tyler Tullio, forcing New Jersey to play from behind for the first time this tournament. The Devils played from behind for under four minutes after Xavier Parent converted on a highlight reel pass and vision from Chase Stillman.

Stillman made his presence known again early in the second period, forcing Buffalo goaltender Ryerson Leenders into a turnover, that Stillman shot five-hole on an off-kilter Leenders for the 2-1 lead. The lead would grow on a 2-on-1 play with Tag Bertuzzi and Matias Melovsky connecting on the power play, Melovsky tapping home the cross-ice pass from Bertuzzi.

The Sabres drew within one on a goal by Jiri Kulich in the second.

Cole Brown added the insurance goal for New Jersey with 1:27 to play and Chase Stillman contributed the Devils 5th goal of the game, an empty-net goal with 25 seconds remaining.

The Devils wrap up the Prospects Challenge on Monday at 10 a.m. against the Boston Bruins.

Here are a few impressions from the game...

• Goaltender Isaac Poulter had a fantastic showing - particularly in the first period - when the Devils were forced into defending against the Sabres powerplay after back-to-back penalties. Poulter came up with some highlight reel saves, both in close and against longer-range shots, to keep the game tied at one heading into the second period.

Poulter continued a fantastic performance throughout.

"Tonight there was certainly some resilience," Utica head coach Kevin Dineen said, "You always say goaltending makes a huge difference and Isaac Poulter had a real strong night. Buffalo has some high-skilled talent on their team and they really were coming at us, showing a lot of creativity and when we got ourselves into a little trouble, Isaac bailed us out.”

• Defenseman Mikael Diotte got a look at the first defensive pairing with Topias Vilen, a place where Dineen really liked seeing how his game has developed.

“Mike is a guy that is newly signed; he goes to the Memorial Cup Final, and boy, he’s just a hockey player. We spent some time together, we did a lot of clips and talking with him and there’s just a lot of little details to his game that add up to a really big difference.”

• Chase Stillman continues to make his presence known. In tournaments past, Stillman was perhaps a little more apprehensive with his play and far less noticeable during games. Through his first two games, Stillman has immediately impacted beyond the scoresheet. He's been physically engaged and taking his role as a leader, wearing an 'A' seriously.

Against Buffalo, Stillman engaged with the physical, gritty side of his game, laying out several big hits and being in the middle of several post-whistle scrums without going over the edge. Overall, Stillman has stood out in both of the games so far.

• The Sabres iced a lineup that was near a full AHL roster, with a mix of NHL experience, including defenseman Ryan Johnson, who played 41 games in the NHL last season, while forward Jiri Kulich scored 27 goals with the Rochester Americans (AHL) last year.

• Forwards Kocha Delic and Jace Isley played their first game of the tournament after sitting out Friday's matchup. As did defenseman Igor Mburanumwe. Goaltender Tyler Brennan did not dress after posting the victory on Friday afternoon.

What's Next

The Devils rookies will practice in Buffalo on Sunday to prepare for their final game of the tournament. They'll be back to competition on Monday morning at 10 a.m. You can watch the game on NewJerseyDevils.com or the mobile app. Catherine Bogart hosts the pregame show beginning at 9:55 a.m., followed by the call of the game with Matt Loughlin and Sam Kasan.