In Newark Monday night, the New Jersey Devils edged out the Buffalo Sabres, 2-1, on a goal from 19-year old rookie Pavel Zacha.
Zacha scored on the power play at 12:33 of the third period when he potted a rebound to break a 1-1 tie.
Cory Schneider picked up win over Sabres Monday night – file photo by Lewis Bleiman
“I saw the rebound and was lucky enough it went right on my stick, so I just tried to shoot it right away,” Zacha said. “The goalie didn’t know where the puck was; I tried to surprise him.”
The goal was challenged by the Sabres for goalie interference against Robin Lehner.
Adam Henrique, who was the object of Buffalo’s challenge, scored a power play goal in the second period.
“It’s that time of the year where everyone ramps their game up, and we have to find a way to do that consistently,” Henrique said. “We had a big 5-1 win [at the Columbus Blue Jackets] on Saturday, and we had to find a way to carry that over at home and against the Sabres.”
WATCH: All Sabres vs. Devils highlights
Tyler Ennis scored about four minutes ahead of Zacha in the third period to tie the game for the Sabres.
Lehner made 37 saves in the loss as the Sabres fell to 21-21-10 on the season.
Cory Schneider got the win on 22 saves.
“It was important to win at home, but more important was the way we played,” Schneider said. “You can’t always guarantee a win no matter how well you play, but I thought we did a lot of things well and deserved to win.”
Schneider is 3-0-1 in his last four games.
“We need our best players to be our best players. I think a lot of us didn’t like the first half to our season in terms of the guys who have been here and who were counted on,” Schneider said. “Some guys have really stepped up and we’ve gotten good depth performances too. [Pavel Zacha] has really stepped it up on that line with Jacob Josefson and Stefan Noesen. They have contributed, and it seems like everyone is settling into a role.”
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