BUFFALO, NY - Nico Hischier opened the game's scoring in Buffalo in the first period, and Arseny Gritsyuk added the insurance marker in the second, as the Devils entered the third period against the Sabres with a 2-0 lead.

In what will be their only road game over the stretch of two weeks and seven games, the Devils are back to .500 on the road after a 5-0 win in Buffalo.

"Big win for us, trying to get our road game on the same par as our home games so, it’s good to get a good one tonight,” Brenden Dillon said.

The Devils did not rest on their laurels entering the third period, knowing full-well that the Sabres were going to push for their offense, the Devils remained patient for their chances. And with forcing turnovers and the Sabres trying to force their offense through, the Devils pounced on their moments.

“We had a good understanding of what that period would look like," Connor Brown, who had a two-assist outting, said. "We knew they would have to force things, and with that, we got a couple of breakaways, a couple of chances, and a couple of looks, and we were able to grow our lead.”

It was Brenden Dillon who began the third period scoring, blasting a shot from up high and through traffic to extend New Jersey’s lead to 3-0 early. Paul Cotter added to the Devils' lead and sent the Sabres faithful to the exits with a backhand, breakaway goal to put the Devils up 4-0. Gritsyuk added his second goal of the game with 3:10 to play for the first two-goal game of his young career.

"I think it was a good game, start to finish,” Connor Brown said. “It started with Jake settling us in, making some big saves early, and getting the first goal is huge for us. From there, we kind of controlled the game and didn’t give up too many Grade-A’s after that.”

In net, Allen was excellent, stopping a whopping 41 shots from the Sabres, backstopping the Devils to their seventh road win of the season. The shutout was his first of the season, and a true rebound performance from his last start where the team gave up goals in quick succession in the first period in Philadelphia.

"It was a great game for me, I really wanted to bounce back after the game in Philly," Allen said. "But for me it’s feeding off the energy the boys brought this week at home. Marky with a couple great games, guys found ways to win, I wanted to contribute here on the road.”

The Devils snapped a three-game road losing streak with the victory and earned their third straight win.

Here are some observations from the game:

• Less than five minutes into the game Stefan Noesen and Tage Thompson both dropped the gloves, harkening back to a moment from last season between these two clubs. The two carried out a spirited bout on the ice, Noesen responding for his high hit on Thompson last season. In that game last March, Noesen took a match penalty and this is the first meeting between the two clubs since.

“Noes is an honorable guy and he let me know what might have been coming and wanted my feedback and all that," Keefe said, "But the chance to get their best player off the ice, you’re going to sign up all day.”

• Nico Hischier and his Swiss counterpart Timo Meier continue to go on a tear. Meier assisted on Hischier's opening goal of the game in Buffalo, both players extending their point streaks on the play. Meier extended his point streak to four games, adding his third assist to go along with his three goals, while Hischier scored his fifth goal in the last four games and registered his ninth point in his last four games.

• Prior to the game, head coach Sheldon Keefe spoke about his second line makeup of Ondrej Palat, Dawson Mercer and Arseny Gritsyuk and how it's a line that has come together out of necessity, and they continue to work at their chemistry. Well, that chemistry looks like it's that chemistry is starting to take hold.

"With the situation we’re in, different lineups and playing with different players, but we adjusted good there," Mercer said. "And tonight obviously showed for it. We had two there and a great team win.”

The trio connected for the Devils second goal, all three forwards on the ice recording a point on the 2-0 marker. Dawson Mercer, whose tip shot was saved by Alex Lyon, stayed with the play behind the goal line to set up the centering pass through the slot to Gritsyuk. They would connect again later in the game on Gritsyuk's second goal.

"Huge goal for us in the second period," head coach Keefe said, "Love how all three forwards are involved on the inside and getting that puck into that space a couple of times.That was a really good an important goal for us.”

Mercer admitted that first he was trying to get the puck back to Palat on the play, but had no problem with the Gritsyuk finish.

“It was going to Pally first,” Mercer explained. “Pally tipped it and it obviously ended up getting to Gritsy, so it worked out either way. It was a good back-up plan, he put it in.”

• There was a moment in the second period where the Devils held their breath as Paul Cotter went hard into the end boards. Cotter stayed down on the ice for a moment before getting up on his own. He went to the Devils locker room and returned shortly thereafter. He later sought his revenge with his second goal of the season, a nifty backhand shot on a clean breakaway, starting through the neutral zone.

• Connor Brown had a two-assist afternoon, securing helpers on both third period goals by Brenden Dillon and Paul Cotter, for his third two-point game of the season.

• Ondrej Palat picked up two assists against the Sabres.

• The Devils entered the third period with a lead for just the third time in the last 10 games. All three of the games resulted in a Devils victory.