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Winless no more: Schneider, Devils silence Rangers

Oct 20, 2013 - 4:38 AM Newark, NJ (SportsNetwork.com) - The New Jersey Devils broke out of their early-season slump in a big way, getting goals from four different players en route to a 4-0 rout of the New York Rangers at the Prudential Center.

Andrei Loktionov and Adam Henrique each scored in the first period, with Michael Ryder and Dainius Zubrus lighting the lamp in the second to help the Devils end their franchise-worst seven-game losing streak to begin the 2013-14 campaign.

"I think the effort's been there a lot of nights, but obviously the result hasn't been there," said Henrique afterward. "Tonight the guys played a full 60 minutes even when we were ahead. I thought everybody played great."

Cory Schneider, making his initial home start in a New Jersey sweater, needed to make just 22 saves to record his first shutout with his new team.

Schneider outshined counterpart Henrik Lundqvist, who stopped only 15-of-19 shots as the Rangers fell to 2-5-0 on their season-opening nine-game road trip.

The Devils entered the matchup having mustered just six goals over their four most recent defeats, but scored twice on their first six shots against a shaky Lundqvist even with key forwards Damien Brunner and Patrik Elias out of the lineup.

Just over seven minutes in, Anton Volchenkov kept the puck from leaving the Rangers zone and sent a long drive that Lundqvist turned away, but Loktionov swooped in to knock home the rebound to send New Jersey ahead.

"I just think we took them right out of the game," Schneider remarked. "We took some of their emotion away and really frustrated them."

Schneider made a tough save in close on Benoit Pouliot later in the period, and Henrique got loose down the left side shortly afterward before blasting the puck by Lundqvist for a 2-0 lead.

"I just need to come up with more saves and give the team a little more confidence," said a dejected Lundqvist. "It's tough to get the game going as a team when you fall behind like that."

A Rangers penalty early in the second period enabled their rival to increase the margin. The Devils worked the puck on the resulting power play to Ryder, who rocketed a low shot through Lundqvist's pads at the six-minute mark of the session.

Zubrus made it a 4-0 game by backhanding in the carom of Bryce Salvador's initial attempt 5:28 prior to the second intermission.

The Rangers did control the action for much of the final frame. However, Schneider withstood all 10 shots he faced in the third period to polish off his 10th career shutout, the first nine of which came with Vancouver.

Game Notes

Elias did not play due to a case of the flu, while Brunner was held out with an undisclosed injury ... The Rangers played without captain Ryan Callahan, who fractured his thumb during Wednesday's 2-0 triumph over Washington, as well as defenseman Michael Del Zotto (illness) ... Salvador briefly left the contest late in the first period after being checked hard into the boards by Pouliot, but returned for the second ... The Devils' longest winless stretch to begin a season in franchise history remains nine games, when the Kansas City Scouts opened their inaugural 1974-75 campaign with eight losses and a tie.