New Jersey Devils (31-31-12) at Carolina Hurricanes (27-36-10), 7 p.m. (ET)
(SportsNetwork.com) - The New Jersey Devils hope to avoid a fourth consecutive loss and pick up a fifth straight victory in Carolina on Saturday evening as they visit the Hurricanes.
The Devils followed up consecutive defeats in regulation with Thursday's 3-2 overtime loss at Washington, earning a point thanks to Steve Bernier's tally with 29.2 seconds left in regulation.
With Cory Schneider, who made 21 saves, on the bench for an extra attacker, Bernier tapped in a Scott Gomez feed from behind the net to tie the game, but the Capitals won 1:13 into overtime as Matt Niskanen's rising shot deflected off a Devils defenseman's stick and past Schneider.
Travis Zajac also scored for the Devils.
"I think it's been a while since we've gotten a 6-on-5 goal," Schneider said. "We've been in that position quite a few times and just haven't gotten a lucky bounce or a good play. We just hadn't had much to show for it. So it was nice to stick with it tonight and reward ourselves with at least a point."
New Jersey is set to host the Anaheim Ducks on Sunday, so it is unknown if Schneider will make his 65th start of the season or if backup Keith Kinkaid will get the call tonight.
Schneider is 4-1-1 with a 1.70 goals against average and .947 save percentage in seven career meetings, including six starts, while Kinkaid stopped all 17 shots fired his way when he faced the Hurricanes on Feb. 21 for the first time in his career. However, he left the game with 6:01 to go in the second period due to a lower-body injury.
New Jersey has won five of its past six versus the Hurricanes and outscored them 14-4 over a four-game winning streak in Carolina.
The Hurricanes snapped a four-game slide with Thursday's 5-2 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins, moving to 1-1-1 on a five-game homestand that ends on Sunday versus Boston.
Eric Staal had a goal and two assists, while Ryan Murphy, Jay McClement, Alexander Semin and Andrej Nestrasil also lit the lamp for the Hurricanes.
"There was a lot of offense both ways. I thought they had some real good looks, and so did we," said Hurricanes coach Bill Peters. "There were some plays being made out there both ways."
Cam Ward returned from a bout with the flu and made 27 saves in his first start since March 14. He is expected to start again tonight and is 9-14-2 versus the Devils lifetime with a 2.79 GAA and .898 save percentage.
Semin is questionable for this game due to an undisclosed injury as he did not skate on Friday.