NEWARK, N.J. _ The Devils earned their rest.
Playing with intensity and, yes, a bit of desperation, the Devils went into their five-day bye week with a 2-1 win over the Sabres on Monday night at Prudential Center as they snapped a seven-game home losing streak.
Pavel Zacha scored the winner on the Devils' second power-play goal of the game, knocking in a loose puck from the slot at 12:33 of the third period, a goal that survived a coach's challenge as the Sabres' Dan Bylsma thought Adam Henrique interfered with Robin Lehner by hitting the goalie's glove with his stick.
Though the Devils (23-21-10) had struggled at home _ they're still just 2-7-2 at The Rock since Dec. 31 _ they collected seven of eight potential points coming out of their previous break for the All-Star weekend in Los Angeles. So they'll go into their in-season vacation _ new to the NHL this season _ just three points out of the Eastern Conference's final playoff spot.
When the Devils return, hosting the Sharks on Sunday afternoon, seven of their eight remaining games in February leading into the March 1 trade deadline will be at home. The lone "road" game is against the Islanders in Brooklyn.
Cory Schneider made 22 saves for the Devils while Lehner stopped 37 shots for the Sabres (21-21-10).
Devils coach John Hynes cited a "stronger commitment level from the forwards" in helping to create more chances around the crease for goals off rebounds or tips _ for instance, Henrique's power-play goal _ improved special teams play _ again, for instance, Henrique and Zacha's power-play goals _ and consistently being able to roll four lines and use all six defensemen.
Still, for the Devils' puck possession advantage, the Sabres were able to tie the game at 1 at 8:39 of the third period to spoil Schneider's bid for a third shutout this season.
Tyler Ennis, taking the puck deep into the Devils' zone, made a spin move and beat Schneider on a sharp-angle shot from the right that the goalie was seemingly not anticipating.
Henrique, playing on his 27th birthday, had given the Devils a 1-0 lead at 8:46 of the second period. At the right post, he tried to feed P.A. Parenteau high in the left circle. Instead, the puck deflected in off Sabres defenseman Cody Franson's left skate as he defended the crease.
The Devils are 5 for 10 on the power play since the All-Star break after going 2 for 4 on Monday.
The Devils were on the power play with Evander Kane serving a four-minute roughing penalty, and Devils defenseman Steven Santini in the box for a two-minute roughing minor, the result of a scrum after Devils defenseman Karl Stollery's hard check on Zemgus Girgensons sent the center's helmet flying off.
That was an offshoot of Sabres defenseman Jake McCabe's crunching, clean check on Jacob Josefson along the right boards at 2:54 of the second period.
Josefson, who missed 11 of 13 games from Dec. 18-Jan. 12 because of concussion symptoms, skated off under his own power but went directly to the Devils' room for evaluation, returning for one shift later in the period at 15:18.
The back-and-forth second period, during which the Devils outshot the Sabres 19-11 _ matching the Devils' season high for shots in a period _ was in direct contrast to the first 20 minutes.
The teams slogged through a mainly non-descript, scoreless first period, with two of the Devils' better chances coming on the penalty kill. Travis Zajac had a two-on-one short-handed opportunity low in the slot and Kyle Palmieri might have had a short-handed breakaway had his stick not snapped at his own blue line.
Schneider needed to make just six, first-period save, perhaps his toughest coming on Jack Eichel's one-timer at 5:35.
Lehner followed 10 seconds later by stopping Taylor Hall at the crease.
