Schneider gets shutout in Devils win against Canucks

VANCOUVER -- New Jersey Devils goaltender Cory Schneider is comfortable coming back to Vancouver, and it showed against his former team on Wednesday.
Schneider made 37 saves to help the Devils to a 2-0 win against the Canucks at Rogers Arena.

"I've always loved playing in this city and this building," said Schneider, who was selected by the Canucks with the 26th pick in the 2004 NHL Draft and played five seasons with them. "I've always felt really comfortable and at home here."
WATCH: [All Devils vs. Canucks highlights]
Schneider improved to 5-1-2 with a .940 save percentage against the Canucks since they traded him to New Jersey at the 2013 NHL Draft for the ninth pick, which Vancouver used to select Bo Horvat.
Schneider's save percentage was .909 coming into the game, but he robbed Daniel Sedin from the low slot with 42 seconds left in the third period to preserve his first shutout of the season and 24th of his NHL career. He improved to 6-1-0 but was happy to be a bigger part of the win.
"We've been scoring a lot of goals, and for me, I felt good about my game but it felt like it was time to spin a game like this and get my teammates some help and not force them to score four or five goals," said Schneider, who has won five straight starts against the Canucks.

Jimmy Hayes scored at 10:09 of the second period, and Drew Stafford scored into an empty net with 16 seconds remaining in the third period to help New Jersey start 9-2-0 for the first time in its history. The Devils began the 1993-94 season 8-3-0.
Taylor Hall had two assists for the Devils, who remain the NHL's only perfect road team (5-0-0).
"We've been able to find a way to win some games here early," coach John Hynes said. "That's nice, but we want to try to continue to build an identity and try to get stronger as the year goes on."
Jacob Markstrom made 24 saves for the Canucks (6-4-2), who have lost two straight after a four-game winning streak. Markstrom made several tough saves early but wasn't happy with Hayes' goal, a one-timer from near the boards that knuckled past him.
"It was more of a curve ball," Markstrom said. "It was a little bit of a knuckler. I got a little eager to get out and get it, it kind of curved in. You want that back, especially in a game like this."
Vancouver had 80 shot attempts compared to 42 for New Jersey, but the Canucks missed the net 22 times and the Devils blocked another 21. Vancouver has one goal in the past two games.

"We have too many guys standing off to the side and not screening the goalie," Horvat said.
Schneider, who was playing his second game back after missing two with a lower-body injury and for the birth of his daughter, credited his team for letting him see those pucks.
"They put a lot of pucks to the net so if your teammates are clearing out rebounds and blocking some shots, and you can get a look at them, then you are going to make some saves," he said.

Goal of the game

Hayes' goal at 10:09 of the second period.

Save of the game

Schneider's save on Sedin with 42 seconds remaining in the third period to preserve the shutout.

Highlight of the game

Schneider robbed Sam Gagner twice in a frantic four-shot flurry over 15 seconds, ending with 2:45 left in the second period.

They said it

"I tried not to think too much about it. Between the warmup and the first period I was thinking about all that we had been through." -- Devils forward Brian Boyle on the emotions of his first game since being diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukemia on Sept. 19
"We should have won this one. You play like this throughout the season and you are going to get your wins. It was a good effort again. Give [Schneider] a lot of credit." -- Canucks forward Daniel Sedin

Need to know

Boyle made his debut 57 seconds into the game. He finished with one shot, two blocked shots and won six of nine face-offs in 15:19. … Devils forward Marcus Johansson returned after missing one game with a lower-body injury but left 57 seconds into the first period after falling face first into the end boards. Devils forward Kyle Palmieri, who missed his third straight game, was placed on injured reserve to make room for Boyle's return and is not on the road trip. … Vancouver was 0-for-4 on the power play.

What's next

Devils: At the Edmonton Oilers on Friday (9 p.m. ET; SN, TVA Sports, NHLN-US, MSG+, NHL.TV)
Canucks:Host the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday (10 p.m. ET; CBC, SN, ATTSN-PT, NHL.TV)