In Newark, it was a match of two teams struggling to find some level of success.
In the end, the New Jersey Devils pinned the Buffalo Sabres with their 12 straight loss, 3-2, on Tuesday night. 
Mackenzie Blackwood made 33 saves for the Devils to get the win.
Tobias Rieder had a goal for the Sabres, when he tied the game, 1-1, in the second period.
Jeff Skinner potted a goal to give the Sabres a brief lead at 2-1, 57 seconds later.
“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.”
Miles Wood picked up the game-winner on the power play at 4:52 of the third period.
“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 head 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 also scored for the Devils.
“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.”
The Sabres are 0-10-2 in their last 12 games.
“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.”
Jonas Johansson made 24 saves in the Sabres’ loss.
“It was an excellent effort, but we are not rewarded for effort, we are rewarded for results,” Buffalo head 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.”
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