Stempniak, Devils win fourth straight, defeat Jets

WINNIPEG -- Lee Stempniak scored twice against his former team to help the New Jersey Devils to their fourth consecutive win in a 3-1 victory against the Winnipeg Jets at MTS Centre on Saturday.
Devils goaltender Cory Schneider made 22 saves in his 11th start in the past 12 games. He had a shutout until Dustin Byfuglien scored on the power play for the Jets with 5:09 remaining. Schneider's NHL-leading 41st game was the 26th time in his past 34 starts that he has allowed two goals or fewer.

Jacob Josefson also scored for the Devils (24-19-5), who moved past the Pittsburgh Penguins into fourth place in the Atlantic Division. Michael Cammalleri had two assists.
"I thought we got off to a good start and then played a pretty complete 60 minutes," Devils coach John Hynes said. "There were times that Winnipeg had some strong pushes, and we were able to respond better than we had in previous games."
The Jets (21-24-3) lost their third game in a row and remain last in the Central Division with one win in their past six home games.
"The morale is going to be low, and it should be after you lose three games," Jets coach Paul Maurice said. "The confidence is earned. The only way you have to change your fortunes is to work harder."
Rookie Connor Hellebuyck, who started for the 18th time in the past 20 games, had 13 saves.
The Jets did not re-sign Stempniak, a late-season addition in a trade with the New York Rangers, after he had six goals in 18 regular-season games to help the Jets reach the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2007. He has flourished with New Jersey. His 13th goal opened the scoring for the Devils, who are 17-0-3 when scoring first.
Toby Enstrom and Blake Wheeler of the Jets collided at the Winnipeg blue line, allowing Cammalleri to pull away with the loose puck before sending a pass to the crease that Stempniak tapped past Hellebuyck at 11:41.
"It was a good team effort from us," Stempniak said. "It was a huge game. It's fun to be back. I enjoyed playing here and was friends with a lot of the [Winnipeg] guys. Nothing but good memories and great things to say to about the Jets organization."
The Devils outshot the Jets 10-4 in the first period and had a 1-0 lead after 20 minutes.
When you think of a first period on the road, that's how you draw it up," Schneider said.
New Jersey made it 2-0 on their second shot of the second period at 15:49, with Josefson taking a pass from David Schlemko and one-timing a right-circle shot on his off wing high past Hellebuyck. Josefson's second goal of the season was his first in 12 games.
Stempniak's 14th goal moved the lead to 3-0 at 8:42 of the third when he tipped Adam Henrique's left-side shot through a screen past Hellebuyck. Stempniak's two-goal game gave him five goals and two assists in his past six games. He has points in 16 of his past 25 games (nine goals, nine assists).
"This [past] summer not signing, it was hard in a sense, but at the same time, I had a lot of confidence in myself last season and a strong finish in Winnipeg and knew I could play," Stempniak said. "New Jersey was the best fit, not just to make the team but to play a big role on a team. I've embraced that. I think I've earned the coaches' trust, and we're a good team."
Byfuglien's goal made it 3-1 and was Winnipeg's fourth in its past four games.
"We're just struggling to put the puck in the net," Jets center Bryan Little said.
Winnipeg held New Jersey to 16 shots, but couldn't generate much offense.
"It's not good enough," Wheeler said. "We're not doing moral victories here at all. We've just got to find a way to come out on top. At the very least, get a point here or there because three straight losses where we're at isn't going to get it done.
"I won't stop believing in our group. I won't stop believing in what we have in here until they shut the lights off, but I'm not going to pretend like it's easy right now."
The Devils will play the Penguins Tuesday looking for their fourth straight win.
"Especially tonight on the road in a fun building, I thought we had probably our most complete effort of the [winning streak]," Schneider said. "I think that's encouraging.
"It will be good to rest up and have a big one on Tuesday. It's going to be an important game for us. We're feeling good right now, but we can't let that get in the way of how we need to play [at Pittsburgh]."
Hynes said the game will be a measuring stick for the Devils.
"It's probably going to be our biggest test," Hynes said. "Not because it's Pittsburgh, but because we've had some success this week. So we have a trip where we've got to stay on task and make sure that we're ready for probably a game that is going to be very intense.
"What maturity level do we have? We feel good about ourselves, but we're going to have to really dig in and win a game. I think that will talk about where our maturity level is as a team."