"It wasn't a gamble to start [Schneider]; it was just a coaching decision," Hynes said. "There wasn't an opening when Keith was playing extremely well down the stretch. It wasn't that we didn't want to play Cory, but that every game mattered and Keith was playing at an exceptionally high level, making all kinds of saves and getting puck luck. We were going to go with Keith, and Cory respected that, understood it.
"Cory still worked hard, looked good in practice, and you could tell he was itching to play."
Schneider stopped all 10 shots he faced when he entered Game 2 in relief of Kinkaid at 13:12 of the second period of a 5-3 loss Saturday.
"Cory deserved a chance," Hynes said. "It was nice to see him play the way he did because of how well he handled the situation of not playing. He handled practice time, and off-ice time and he had his mindset the right way, and that's why he's a true pro."
Devils forward Kyle Palmieri said, "We had confidence in [Schneider] even when he was going through his tough stretch. He played great last night and he gave us a chance to win. It's good to see that kind of effort and the result for him."
Schneider, who made his first playoff start since May 7, 2013, when he made 43 saves for the Vancouver Canucks in a 4-3 overtime loss to the San Jose Sharks, said it didn't take long for him to find his rhythm. He made saves against Ryan McDonagh and Tyler Johnson 9:50 into the third period of Game 3 with the game tied 2-2, and appeared to injure his leg stretching to make a save at the right post.
"It looked worse than it was, but I worked through it and finished the game," Schneider said.
