BUFFALO, N.Y. _ Andy Greene felt the tug by Evander Kane as his potential overtime breakaway was thwarted, then heard the reaction of the partisan KeyBank Center crowd. Pretty soon, the Devils captain realized he was being awarded the first penalty shot of his NHL career.
"I was hoping they'd let someone else on the ice take it," the 34-year-old defenseman said.
No need. Greene slipped the puck through the pads of Anders Nilsson, magnificent otherwise, and the Devils earned a 2-1 overtime victory on Friday night for their season-high third straight win.
"I loved it," said fellow defenseman Yohann Auvitu, who tied the game at 3:13 of the third period with his first career NHL goal, of Greene's move. "It was a great, game-winning goal. I'm very happy for him."
The Devils (7-3-3), who host the Sabres (5-5-4) Saturday, could feel some gleeful relief after taking a season-high 43 shots _ with an 18-5 shot advantage in the third period _ and going 0-for-6 on the power play, including a lengthy 5-on-3 in the second period and a four-minute chance in the third period.
Keith Kinkaid, busy in the first period, particularly the first five minutes, finished with 25 saves for the Devils.
"They weren't giving us much and we stuck with it," Kinkaid said. "It's good to get two points, but the job's not done. We've got to finish (tonight)."
Nilsson came into Friday night's game with a 4-1-0 career record against the Devils in six appearances, with one shutout, a 1.28 goals-against average and a .952 save percentage.
But Auvitu, the 27-year-old French rookie who played the past eight seasons in the Finnish Elite League and was named that circuit's top defenseman last season, ended Nilsson's shutout bid with a wrist shot from the left point that got through traffic.
Taylor Hall, who set up Auvitu, gathered the puck for his teammate but Auvitu was hesitant to celebrate, wondering if the puck had been deflected on its way past Nilsson.
Auvitu had reason to be wary. He had an apparent goal in the Devils season opener at Florida later credited to P.A. Parenteau and then a goal disallowed against the Ducks two games later in the home opener.
"So now I was waiting to see if it was really my goal in order to celebrate," Auvitu said. "Obviously, it was a great experience."
The Sabres took a 1-0 lead at 10:34 of the first period on Matt Moulson's power-play goal, a slap shot from just above the crease, after rookie Nick Lappin tripped Jake McCabe in the offensive zone.
The Devils wasted a huge opportunity in the second period when they skated 5-on-3 for 1:25 and could not get a shot on net. Josh Gorges was called for holding Damon Severson at 14:28 and then Rasmus Ristolainen flipped the puck over the glass for delay of game.
The Sabres twice cleared the zone on the Devils' 5-on-3, the last time killing off the last seconds of the two-man advantage after Ryan O'Reilly blocked John Moore's slap shot.
Moore had two shots blocked during the 5-on-3 and both he and Kyle Palmieri missed the net with attempted shots.
Moore then had two more shots blocked during the remaining power-play time and Palmieri also had another man-advantage shot blocked.
Kane was issued a four-minute double minor for drawing blood as he high-sticked Jacob Josefson at 12:17 of the third period.
"It was good to see that the players that were on the power play didn't let it affect the rest of the game and that's why we were able to do it a different way," Devils coach John Hynes said.
