Schneider makes 45 saves, Devils hold off Sabres

NEWARK, N.J. --Cory Schneider made a season-high 45 saves, and the New Jersey Devils handed the Buffalo Sabres their 12th straight loss on the road with a 3-1 win at Prudential Center on Monday.

Pavel Zacha had a goal and an assist, and Blake Coleman and Miles Wood scored for the Devils (29-39-9), who have won two in a row after going 2-9-1 in their previous 12 games.
"Guys did a good job of letting me see the puck. I was able to glove a few down and eat a few up and you could tell as the game wore on they were trying to throw it in from all angles to get pucks on the net," Schneider said. "As a goalie, as long as you're controlling your rebounds and feeling pretty locked in, you can handle those, so it wasn't all Grade A chances or odd-man rushes. Again, you got to come up with a couple of big saves, but I felt good and had good energy."
WATCH: [All Sabres vs. Devils highlights]
Sam Reinhart scored, and Linus Ullmark made 18 saves for the Sabres (31-35-9), who are 0-10-2 on the road since a 5-4 win at the Columbus Blue Jackets on Jan. 29.
"I thought we played the right way for 60 minutes. We had opportunities, had chances and we just didn't find the next goal," Sabres coach Phil Housley said.
Buffalo and New Jersey has each been eliminated from Stanley Cup Playoff contention.
Zacha gave the Devils a 2-1 lead at 4:30 of the third period with a power-play goal from the left circle with Wood providing a screen in front of Ullmark.

"It always feels great to contribute," Zacha said. "I had a tough time at the start of the season to contribute like this, so I think it's good and especially in tonight's game when we were outshot (46-21). So to get the win was big for our team."
The Sabres appeared to tie it when Reinhart scored off a rebound at 6:24, but Devils coach John Hynes challenged the play for goaltender interference on Evan Rodrigues, and the call was overturned after a video review.
"I got bumped into, but you never expect it to be overturned and it was, so it's a great reversal for us," Schneider said. "I always try to move my feet and move around the crease, so I wasn't trying to draw anything there, but fortunately got the call."
Wood scored into an empty net to make it 3-1 at 18:35.
Conor Sheary appeared to cut it to 3-2 with 1.9 seconds remaining, but the goal was disallowed because it was played with a high stick.
Coleman gave New Jersey a 1-0 lead at 1:55 of the first period after skating into the slot from the right corner at beating Ullmark five-hole on a power play.
Reinhart scored his 20th of the season to tie it 1-1 when his shot from center ice bounced past Schneider at 7:23.

"I thought [Schneider] played a good game and I felt we had our looks," Reinhart said. "He made some saves but at the same time, we needed to bury some of our opportunities better."
Devils captain Andy Greene said, "Maybe earlier in the year that goal would have deflated [Schneider], but he trusts himself now in what he's doing and that's huge. It was great to see him rebound and have such a strong game. If not for him and special teams (2-for-3 on power play, 3-for-3 on penalty kill), we're talking a whole different story."

They said it

"It's not a good feeling, no other way to put it. We did things right, we did it the right way. We didn't give them much and got pucks on net. We pretty much did everything we wanted to except put the puck in the net. It seems that's the way it has been going these days." -- Sabres forward Evan Rodrigues
"Blocking shots isn't just standing there and eating pucks, it's a bit of a skill and [Greene] reads the play about as well as anybody. He anticipates the play as a goalie and tries to read what's going to happen next. He's been tremendous for me with key blocks as a penalty killer. He does whatever it takes and is like the [Alex Ovechkin] of the penalty kill because he's been the anchor." -- Devils goalie Cory Schneider

Need to know

Sabres defenseman Rasmus Dahlin had an assist for the fourth straight game. ... Greene blocked two shots to become the first player in Devils history with 200 in a season. Colin White set the previous record (199) for the Devils in 2005-06. ... Zacha has seven points (three goals, four assists) in his past seven games.

What's next

Sabres: At the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday (7:30 p.m. ET; RDS2, TSN5, MSG-B, NHL.TV)
Devils: At the Detroit Red Wings on Friday (7:30 p.m. ET; FS-D+, MSG+, NHL.TV)