Devils edge Sabres on Greene's OT goal
BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Andy Greene scored on a penalty shot 29 seconds into overtime to lead the New Jersey Devils to a 2-1 win over the Buffalo Sabres on Friday night.
The penalty shot came after Greene was obstructed by Sabres left winger Evander Kane on a partial breakaway. Green skated to his right before cutting inside and firing a wrist shot that went through Buffalo goaltender Anders Nilsson's legs.
Yohann Auvitu scored in regulation for New Jersey (7-3-3). Keith Kinkaid made 25 saves.
Matt Moulson scored in regulation for Buffalo (5-5-3). Anders Nilsson made 41 saves.
Moulson opened the scoring on the power play midway through the first period. As Ryan O'Reilly and Sam Reinhart tried to corral a bouncing puck near the net, Moulson stepped up and slammed a one-timer home at 10:34 for his fifth goal of the year. All of Moulson's goals this year have come on the power play.
The Devils came on strong to open the third period before Auvitu evened the score 3:13 into the period with his first career goal. With traffic obstructing Nilsson's view in front of the net, Auvitu's long shot from the left point went untouched into the top corner of the net. New Jersey had a 7-1 edge in shots at the time of Auvitu's goal and would go on to outshoot Buffalo 12-2 midway through the period and 18-5 at the end of the period.
Both goaltenders made their share of quality saves throughout the evening. Nilsson helped the Sabres kill a lengthy 5-on-3 advantage for the Devils late in the second period, while Kinkaid was strong early on a clear chance for rugged Sabres winger Marcus Foligno.
Buffalo came up big by killing off a four-minute New Jersey power play late in the third period after Kane received a double minor for high sticking.
Sabres center Ryan O'Reilly left the game early in the third period and did not return.
NOTES: Devils LW Michael Cammalleri was a late scratch due to personal reasons. Cammalleri had a hat trick in the Devils' previous road game, a 4-1 win over the Carolina Hurricanes. LW Reid Boucher was also scratched for the Devils. ... D Zach Bogosian (knee sprain), D Dmitry Kulikov (undisclosed) and LW Cole Schneider were scratched for the Sabres. Schneider is a recent call-up from the AHL's Rochester Americans and picked up his first career point in Wednesday's shootout loss to Ottawa. ... This was the first of three meetings between the teams this season. They meet again on Saturday in the second part of a home-and-home series in New Jersey.