Tatar, Devils defeat Coyotes for ninth straight win

NEWARK, N.J. -- Tomas Tatar had a goal and an assist, and the New Jersey Devils extended their winning streak to nine games with a 4-2 victory against the Arizona Coyotes at Prudential Center on Saturday.

"You've got to have a lot of good things going for you (in a winning streak)," Devils coach Lindy Ruff said. "[You've] got to find different ways to win games, and we have."
Akira Schmid made 16 saves in his first start since Jan. 31 for the Devils (12-3-0), who have won nine in a row for the first time since Nov. 17-Dec. 7, 2007.
"For me, it's just pushing the pace, getting to my spots early and getting set for shots," Schmid said.
New Jersey has only two longer winning streaks in its history (13 games in 2000-01; 11 games in 2005-06).
"There's been some good teams in Jersey, so those are stats that maybe kind of pop up and guys in the room, think, 'That's cool,'" Devils forward Nathan Bastian said. "But, hey, every day we come to work and try to get a little bit better."
Clayton Keller scored for the Coyotes (6-7-1), who had their three-game winning streak end. Karel Vejmelka made 22 saves.
"We had too many turnovers, and we dig in our tank of energy way too much," Arizona coach Andre Tourigny said. "When you turn the puck over, you have to work twice as hard to defend."

Tatar gave New Jersey a 1-0 lead at 6:29 of the first period, scoring from the slot off a pass from Fabian Zetterlund from behind the net.
Dylan Guenther tied it 1-1 at 9:04 when his attempt from the left post deflected in off Devils defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler with five seconds remaining on a power play.
Jack Hughes scored 23 seconds later on a snap shot from the right face-off circle off a give-and-go with Tatar to put the Devils back in front 2-1.
"[Tatar's] been important for us," Siegenthaler said. "He's a veteran guy, knows how to score, and when he talks in the locker room, everybody listens because he has a lot of games under his belt."
Hughes, who has been attempting to round out his defensive game this season, has 12 points (four goals, eight assists) in his past nine games.
"I've said this before, he's got to get comfortable being a little bit uncomfortable with the way we need to play at certain times," Ruff said. "I thought later on in the game, like the second and third period, I thought he was really skating, creating opportunities, getting back above the puck.
"His defensive awareness was [really] good, and that's the part we've been talking about as a team. To be able to win these games, I use the line, 'Don't get scored against.' So do what you can to not get scored against."
Keller tied it 2-2 with a power-play goal at 8:19 of the second, skating down the slot before finishing with a forehand-to-backhand move.
"We had a similar play in the first and it kind of went under my stick, so we kind of watched it and it worked out perfectly, and [Travis] Boyd made a great play under the guy's stick," Keller said. "When I saw the hole, I tried to get in there as fast as I could."

Jesper Boqvist scored his first goal of the season on a rebound from the slot to give New Jersey a 3-2 lead at 11:19. Dougie Hamilton then made it 4-2 with a a one-timer from the point on a power play at 14:15.
"I think [Boqvist] getting on the score sheet ... that gave us some energy, got us going," Ruff said. "Soon after, we scored another one.
"It's been a total team effort. A lot of guys have contributed to the fact that we've been able to win that amount of games and just keep it going."
NOTES: Keller has six points (two goals, four assists) during a four-game point streak. … Tatar (two goals, six assists) and Nico Hischier (five goals, five assists) each extended his point streak to an NHL career-high seven games. ... New Jersey is 11-0-0 this season when Hischier has a point.