Devils hand Sabres 12th straight loss

NEWARK, N.J. -- Mackenzie Blackwood made 33 saves for the New Jersey Devils, who handed the Buffalo Sabres their 12th straight loss with a 3-2 win at Prudential Center on Tuesday.

Miles Wood scored a power-play goal at 4:52 of the third period to give the Devils a 3-2 lead, redirecting Jesper Bratt's shot from just inside the blue line.
"I'm very confident right now that [Wood] feels good about his game, and I feel good where he's got his game at," New Jersey coach Lindy Ruff said. "I've asked a lot of him and he's responded. I still think there's more upside to his game, but the speed that he brings and the way he can create chances on his own, it's a tool that a lot of players just don't have, and he's using it."
Sami Vatanen and Yegor Sharangovich scored for the Devils (9-13-4), who had lost four in a row (0-2-2) and got their first win at home since Jan. 24 (0-10-1 in the previous 11 games).
"It's certainly nice to get a win at home," Wood said. "As for the morale of the team, it was big for us. We've gone through a little bit of a rough patch, but that's behind us, and this was a big team win and now it's time to look forward to the next game and start to build."
Brandon Montour had two assists, and Jonas Johansson made 24 saves for the Sabres (6-18-4), who are 0-10-2 in their past 12 games and have been outscored 49-19 during that stretch.
"It was an excellent effort, but we are not rewarded for effort, we are rewarded for results," Buffalo coach Ralph Krueger said. "It's very painful at the moment, frustrating. Opportunity was there. We came here to win and we didn't get it.
"Not getting it done in a game that we actually had the upper hand is really disappointing at this moment."

Sharangovich scored for a second straight game with a snap shot from the high slot to give the Devils a 1-0 lead at 17:40 of the first period.
The Sabres then scored twice in a span of 57 seconds in the second period to take the lead.
Tobias Rieder scored his first goal of the season, and Buffalo's first in 177:27, on a wrist shot from the top of the right face-off circle to tie it 1-1 at 6:13 before Jeff Skinner scored his second on a backhand in front to make it 2-1 at 7:10.
"They're a pretty good team off the rush and they've got some guys that are pretty skilled and pretty dangerous," Skinner said. "We took a lot of that space away in the neutral zone. For us, right now, we're obviously in a tough stretch. We have to work our way out of it, that's just the way it is."

Vatanen scored his first goal of the season on a wrist shot from the point at 10:39 of the second to tie it 2-2.
"That's been kind of the theme where we've had to fight back in a lot of games, and again, tonight, the same story where they got a couple of quick ones on us and we were able to come back, get the lead," Ruff said. "We missed some good opportunities and then, near the end, I thought [Blackwood] made some great saves for us."
Blackwood made 11 saves in the third period for his first win in his past seven starts.
"I thought our fight tonight was strong," Wood said. "They made a push there in the third period and we didn't break. We stuck to the structure that was in place and we bought in to that. I thought four lines, six defensemen, and Blackwood played well in net. That's what it takes to win."
NOTES:Devils captain Nico Hischier is expected to be out three weeks after having surgery Monday to repair a frontal sinus fracture. ... New Jersey forward Janne Kuokkanen had an assist on Vatanen's goal to extend his point streak to five games (four goals, two assists).