Gritsyuk, Glass help Devils edge Oilers

EDMONTON -- Arseny Gritsyuk and Cody Glass each had a goal and an assist, and the New Jersey Devils held off the Edmonton Oilers for a 2-1 win at Rogers Place on Tuesday.

Jake Allen made 22 saves, 13 of which came in the third period, for the Devils (26-22-2), who have won four of five, including 2-1 in overtime at the Calgary Flames on Monday.

“He was outstanding. You knew Edmonton was going to have a surge," New Jersey coach Sheldon Keefe said. "I thought we managed that in the first and second period probably as close to perfect as we could have. We knew they were going to have a push and we needed to get some saves, and he was outstanding. ... Credit to him to stay with it and stay focused and be ready when called upon to seal the game in the third.”

Matt Savoie scored for the Oilers (25-18-8), who were looking to win three in a row for the first time this season. Tristan Jarry made 15 saves in his first home start since being acquired in a trade with the Pittsburgh Penguins for Stuart Skinner on Dec. 12.

“We just wanted to win in the third period, where I think we just kind of thought it was going to be easy,” Edmonton coach Kris Knoblauch said. “Our previous two games were [shutout wins], not because we didn’t work, we did, we just anticipated it was going to be easy.

“Once we dug in in the third period and showed some urgency -- nothing fancy, we didn’t draw up any plays -- it was just a lot faster and a lot quicker and we won some more battles and got some more scoring chances.”

Gritsyuk put the Devils ahead 1-0 at 5:23 of the second period. He received a centering pass from Glass at the edge of the left circle and scored with a one-timer that snuck under Jarry's glove arm.

Savoie tied it 1-1 at 7:02. Following a face-off win by Jack Roslovic, Savoie skated to the front of the net and deflected Jake Walman's slap shot from the right point under Allen.

“Big face-off win by ‘Rosey,’ and then I was trying to get out of the way and I think ‘Wally’ was going a little high, but obviously not a high stick,” Savoie said. “So, I was pretty fortunate there.

“I thought it was going to ride up pretty high on me, so I tried getting out of the way, and luckily it hit a stick."

Glass responded back for New Jersey to make it 2-1 at 8:32. Catching Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse on a bad line change, Glass skated all alone down the left wing before taking a pass from Gritsyuk and beating Jarry blocker side from the circle.

“It feels good, especially on a back-to-back going against the Oilers,” Glass said. “It’s a tough task, but I felt like we did a really good job in the first and second period.

“We knew the storm was going to be coming, we knew (Connor) McDavid was going to be out there for the majority of the period, so it was all about deflecting him to the outside, and Jake maybe had his best period of the year, so it was awesome.”

Edmonton outshot New Jersey 13-3 in the third period but couldn't get one past Allen.

“I think there’s a little bit more maturity in our game,” Allen said. “We had three or four wins before this trip, and a little bit more poise, a little bit more maturity, keeping the game a little bit more simple but playing sound defensively.

“We’re going to make mistakes, but I think for the most part we did a really good job, and until that third period, we didn’t give them a whole lot. I’m proud of the group.”

NOTES: The Devils are 17-0-0 when leading after two periods. ... Devils defenseman Dougie Hamilton had an assist to extend his point streak to six games (seven assists). ... The Oilers are 0-7-2 when trying for their third consecutive win this season. ... McDavid had his 17-game point streak against the Devils come to an end.