Kyle Palmieri scored twice and Cory Schneider made 27 saves, helping the Devils hold on for a 4-3 win over the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday night.
Stefan Noesen gave the Devils the lead on their first shot 1:28 into the game. Palmieri put New Jersey ahead 2-0 lead less than five minutes later and restored its two-goal advantage with 34 seconds left in the second period with the first of his team's two short-handed goals.
Detroit's Henrik Zetterberg scored with 1:47 remaining in the second, but the struggling team he leads stayed within a goal for less than 1 ½ minutes.
The Devils went up 3-1 midway through on Adam Henrique's short-handed goal. Detroit pulled within a score on goals from Tomas Tatar and Nick Jensen.
Detroit had an extra skater when Palmieri was called for interference with 2:16 left and pulled Jared Coreau about a minute later, but it couldn't take advantage of the opportunity to extend the game to overtime.
Coreau stopped 20 shots for the Red Wings, whose winless streak was extended to a season-high matching five games.
The Devils had lost two straight and three of four.
Local
New Jersey and Detroit were two of the four teams to come out of the All-Star break with an Eastern Conference-low 49 points.
Only one team at Joe Louis Arena started the game with a sense of urgency.
Coreau was fortunate he didn't give up a goal on the opening shift, getting a break when Palmieri's shot hit the left post. He could not, though, stop Noesen on his shot off a rebound.
Palmieri scored an unassisted short-handed goal while draped by defenseman Niklas Kronwall, taking advantage of lackadaisical backchecking from forwards Gustav Nyquist and Anthony Mantha.
Detroit had a 5-on-3 power play for 1:16 midway through the second period but failed to get a shot on net.
NOTES: New Jersey began the game with three short-handed goals this season and nearly matched that total in one night at Detroit. ... Detroit's Dylan Larkin played for the first time since Jan. 22, returning from an upper-body injury. To make room for Larkin, Drew Miller was assigned to the AHL's Grand Rapids Griffins
UP NEXT
Devils: Host the Calgary Flames on Friday.
Red Wings: Host the New York Islanders on Friday.
