Those power-play goals, the ones the Devils don’t give up, they’re starting to score instead.
As they sought to stretch their unbeaten streak to 10 games last night against the Sabres at the Meadowlands, the Devils also had a run of scoring with the man advantage in three straight.
It was a welcome supplement to their penalty killing, which had not allowed a PPG against in four straight games (12 times short), and had yielded only two (of 31) in their nine-game unbeaten streak.
“It’s good to get on a roll,” said captain Scott Stevens.
“You can get into a place where you feel pretty good about yourself and what’s going on, and that’s where the penalty killing is right now.”
The last time the Devils lost, Oct. 25, they allowed two power-play goals to the Bruins. Of their first 16 games, they had conceded while short-handed in only five games, and only once did they allow more than one.
Overall, they had allowed six power-play goals in 54 times, an 88.9 percent kill rate that was third in the NHL. On the road, which they’ll hit next week in their southwestern sweep, they lead the league at 1-for-20.
In addition, they’ve scored twice shorthanded, meaning they’ve only been outscored 6-2 in those 54 times short.
“It’s been pretty good,” Jay Pandolfo said. “Throughout this streak, we’ve been playing well as a team.
“And we’ve been pretty good about not taking many penalties. The fewer you have to kill, the better. Keeping the penalties down is going to help your penalty killing.”
Fatigue is one factor at work there, and the Devils once again have been short-handed the fewest times in the league. Conversely, only the Bruins have had fewer man advantages than the Devils.
Last season, the Devils finished best in penalty killing and absolute worst on the power play. Their recent sprint of scoring PPGs in three straight has boosted them to 12th at 11-for-61.
They went 1-for-3 against the Rangers, 1-for-3 against Florida and 1-for-4 against the Sabres in Rochester, the first such streak of the year. They scored PPGs in three straight games once last season.
“Any power-play goal is a good power-play goal,” said Brian Rafalski, tied with Scott Niedermayer with power-play points.
For the moment, their special teams have been working well. They confounded conventional wisdom last year by winning the division despite their woeful power play. They’ll stand a better chance with a decent one.
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Devils recalled Scott Clemmensen from Albany on an emergency basis to back up Martin Brodeur last night, Corey Schwab suffering a slight groin injury . . . Devils host Penguins tomorrow.
Devs and Sabres tied 2-2 in Rochester last week . . . Stevens tied John MacLean for second place (behind Ken Daneyko’s 1,283) with 934 games as a Devil last night. Stevens will need three more games to pass Larry Murphy (1,615) for most games by an NHL defenseman.
