Allen, Devils top Ducks to end home losing skid at 5

NEWARK, N.J. -- Jake Allen made 30 saves and the New Jersey Devils ended a five-game home losing streak with a 4-1 win against the Anaheim Ducks at Prudential Center on Saturday.

Stefan Noesen had a goal and an assist, and Ondrej Palat and Juho Lammikko each had two assists for the Devils (18-13-1), who have won two of their past three games.

"I liked the simplicity of the game, the shots, the tracking back, the reloads, the staying on the hunt and staying on the puck," Noesen said. "You see what we're capable of whenever we want to do that consistently throughout the whole 60 minutes."

It was the first home win for the Devils since a 3-2 overtime victory against the St. Louis Blues on Nov. 26.

Troy Terry scored, and Lukas Dostal made 18 saves in his return after missing nine games with an upper-body injury for the Ducks (19-12-1), who have lost two straight games after winning three in a row.

"I thought it was an up and down game," Dostal said. "I thought they really had a tight defensive zone today and we weren't able to break through but overall, I don't think our effort was bad."

Terry gave the Ducks a 1-0 lead on a snap shot from the right hashmarks after taking a lead pass by Leo Carlsson at 13:18 of the first period.

Noesen tied the game 1-1 on a shot from the slot at 16:09 of the first. Lammikko skated hard down his right wing before backhanding a pass to Noesen from behind the goal line.

"I would have been happy had we come out of the first period with the lead, but we didn't have much offensively after [the first goal]," Anaheim coach Joel Quenneville said. "We didn't battle in the hard areas, in the trenches, around their net, and we didn't get many loose pucks or second opportunities. We didn't win our share of battles."

Paul Cotter gave the Devils a 2-1 lead on a wrist shot in the slot at 5:52 of the second period. He has scored in three straight games.

"That one felt good," Cotter said. "I think we got back to how we know we can play. Playing with a little bit more swagger and confidence, which obviously helps. So when we play like that, we're tough to beat."

Cody Glass pushed it to 3-1 at 17:04 of the second on a snap shot from the high slot.

Allen made 14 saves in the third period, including a pad stop against rookie Beckett Sennecke at 16:07 on a backhand from the slot with Dostal pulled for a 6-on-5 advantage.

"It was a great effort and with great effort, you get better structure," Devils coach Sheldon Keefe said. "With better structure, you're taking care of each other out there. It's an easier game for everybody involved. Good to see some guys step up and score some goals for us."

Connor Brown scored an empty-net goal at 18:00 of the third for the 4-1 final.

It was also the first game for the Devils since Quinn Hughes, the brother of New Jersey defenseman Luke Hughes and forward Jack Hughes, was traded to the Minnesota Wild by the Vancouver Canucks on Friday.

"I would have loved to have him here, and obviously Jack as well, not just because he's our brother but because he's a top-two defenseman in the League," Luke said. "He's an unbelievable player. It would have been great to have him here but at the same time, he's going to be great in Minnesota."

NOTES: Quenneville coached his 1,800th NHL game, becoming the fifth person to reach the milestone. He is 988-584-151 with 77 ties for the Ducks, Florida Panthers, Chicago Blackhawks, Colorado Avalanche and St. Louis Blues and is second all-time in wins behind Scotty Bowman (1,244). … Carlsson (17 goals, 23 assists in 32 games) required the fewest games to 40 points in a season by a Ducks player in almost 20 years, following Teemu Selanne in 2006-07 (32 games). ... Jesper Bratt had an assist and has 475 points with the Devils, one behind Scott Niedermayer (476) for the sixth most in franchise history. ... Forward Arseny Gritsyuk (upper body) and defenseman Simon Nemec (lower body) did not play for the Devils, who also remained without forwards, Jack Hughes (finger), Zack MacEwen (lower body), Evgenii Dadonov (wrist) and Timo Meier (personal leave), and defensemen Brett Pesce (hand) and Jonathan Kovacevic (knee).