NHL

Devils slip past Sabres in OT

NEWARK, NJ — Jhonas Enroth lost sight of the puck for just one second.

And that was all the opening Steve Bernier of the Devils needed to beat the Buffalo goalie and give the Devils a 1-0 victory in overtime on Saturday.

“I lost sight of it for a second there,” said Enroth, who finished with 23 saves.

“I looked on the outside of our defender and I should have looked on the inside. It was a good shot, but I could have played it different, too. You want to win the game and get a shutout. This is a tough one, but they won fair and square.”

Cory Schneider made 15 saves for the shutout and has won back-to-back games after winning at Carolina on Friday night. Schneider made 16 saves in the 5-2 victory over the Hurricanes.

“It was a big relief,” Bernier said of his goal. “He made some very, very nice saves the whole game. He made it very tough for us.”

Andy Greene had stolen the puck and passed it to Bernier for the winning tally at 4:19 of overtime.

“We had a clean breakout and I got the puck in the middle and cut across the blue line and used their defenseman for a shot,” Bernier said.

Schneider wasn’t quite as busy as Enroth, but he made the saves when needed.

“It doesn’t matter if it’s 0-0 or 2-2, if it’s a tie game you have to be the one who makes the extra save,” Schneider said.

“When you’re giving under 20 shots a night, sometimes one goal is enough. It can be tough standing there and watching (Enroth) do all that, but it’s part of my job to stop the next one.

“I was ready to go. I didn’t have much work (Friday) night with only 18 shots, so I’m pretty fresh. I felt good in the third period last night and I was able to carry it over. It’s good to get in there right away and get a win.”

Devils forward Ryan Carter left the game just 12 seconds into his first shift on the ice at the 2:05 mark of the first period when he lost a fight to Marcus Foligno.

The two squared off away from the play and the 6-foot-3, 223-pound Foligno threw a right hand that caught Carter square on the side of his helmet. That ended the fight and sent Carter to the locker room for treatment. He did not return.

“I think he’s going to be all right, but I don’t have an update yet,” Devils coach Pete DeBoer said.

The Devils held a 9-3 advantage in shots in the first period and nearly scored in the final minute when Patrik Elias’ point-blank attempt banged off the left post.

Schneider drew cheers when he made a kick save to deny a point-blank shot by Tyler Ennis of the Sabres near the end of the second period. The Devils held a 15-10 shot edge through two periods.

The Sabres had a chance early in the third period when Ville Leino skated in alone, but his shot was knocked wide by Schneider.

Enroth foiled a shot on his doorstep by Travis Zajac late of the third with a brilliant glove save.

“I had good poise there and stayed on my feet and he shot it right into my glove,” Enroth said.