NEWARK — The Devils flirted with disaster before walking away with a win they needed against the New York Islanders.
Two late Islanders goals made it a one-goal game, but the Devils rode its early offense and 40 saves by Cory Schneider to a 3-0 win on Saturday at the Prudential Center.
Center Travis Zajac logged a two-point night, including a short-handed goal in the second period to give the Devils a 2-0 lead. Zajac followed Adam Henrique on a 2-on-1 rush before Henrique dropped a pass to Zajac for a wrist shot from the left circle at 8:49
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Zajac also set up the first goal of the night, banking a pass off the right boards in the neutral zone to set up Devante Smith-Pelly on a breakaway. Smith-Pelly then slid a shot through the legs of Islanders goalie Thomas Greiss to give the Devils a 1-0 lead at 7:10 in the first period.
The Islanders had a chance to tie the game in the first period when Zajac was called for a hook from behind on a 2-on-1 rush, giving the Islanders a penalty shot. But Schneider stuffed a shot from Islanders captain John Tavares.
Schneider improved to 2-for-2 on penalty shots this season and 14-for-16 over his career.
The Devils pushed the lead to 3-0 when Pavel Zacha netted a shot from the left circle on a third-period power play.
But the Islanders made things interesting when Andrew Ladd scored from the slot with 11:02 left in regulation. The Islanders caused a scramble in front when Calvin de Haan attempted a wrap around, and the loose puck found Ladd.
Anthony Beauvillier then scored off his own rebound to pull the Islanders within 3-2 with 6:12 left.
The Islanders nearly tied the game on a late power play when defenseman Nick Leddy drilled the left post on a wide-open shot from the back door.
Kalinin traded: Forward Sergey Kalinin was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday after clearing waivers. The Devils acquired defenseman Viktor Loov and assigned him to Albany (AHL).
Injuries: Defenseman Kyle Quincey missed his fourth straight game due to an upper body injury. He has not been ruled out of playing in Sunday’s game against the Islanders.
Next up: The Devils wrap up a back-to-back, home-and-home weekend with the Islanders when the teams shift to the Barclays Center in Brooklyn for a 6 p.m. faceoff on Sunday. The Devils then host the Ottawa Senators again on Tuesday before a three-day layoff.
Chris Ryan may be reached at cryan@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @ChrisRyan_NJ. Find NJ.com Devils on Facebook.
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