NEWARK, N.J. _ Nothing is supposed to come easily.
Best that these young Devils learn that early in the season.
So even though the Devils struggled through a sometimes sloppy effort, they managed to snap a four-game winless streak with a 2-1 victory against the Panthers on Saturday night at Prudential Center.
The win allowed the Devils (10-4-2) to end their homestand 1-1-1 as they brought an 0-2-2 skid into the game, the opener of a back-to-back that ends Sunday night at Chicago.
Coach John Hynes said he wants his team to be tested with adversity and they were again, taking a two-goal lead then holding on against the Panthers (5-9-2).
"It's important for us to go through this," Hynes said. "And the reason I say that is, we have a young team. The preseason (5-1-1) was great. The first 10 games (8-2-0) was great. But the reality of the league is you hit adversity and you've got to get through adversity. You have to go through this to understand what needs to be done and here's how you stop it. That's the stage we're in right now. You've got to embrace the challenge."
An outstanding Cory Schneider made 32 saves for the Devils, who killed off all four of the Panthers' power plays. This despite the Panthers taking six shots after Damon Severson was called for high sticking Jamie McGinn at 2:10 of the third period.
The Panthers' James Reimer, who came into the game with a 4.00 goals-against average and an .890 save percentage in his first nine appearances, made 20 saves.
Hynes said Keith Kinkaid will start Sunday night's game against the Blackhawks, which opens a four-game road trip.
It's expected No. 1 center Travis Zajac, out since surgery to repair a torn left pectoral muscle on Aug. 17, will rejoin the lineup at some point later during the week after being medically cleared to play on Saturday.
The Panthers, trailing by one, took the first nine shots of the third period before Nico Hischier took one from the high slot at 8:42.
Kyle Palmieri, in his second game back in the lineup after missing six with an injured left ankle, rocketed a one-timer from the left circle off rookie defenseman Will Butcher's feed just under the crossbar and inside the far post for a five-on-three power-play goal to make it 2-0 at 4:58 of the second period.
That snapped the Devils' 0-for-11 power-play drought over the previous five games.
Nick Bjugstad cut the lead to 2-1 at 7:20 of the second period, lifting his own rebound over a sprawled Schneider's outstretched glove after the Devils failed to clear the puck from their zone.
Brian Boyle, whose emotional reaction his first goal since returning to the lineup after his training camp diagnosis of chronic myeloid leukemia was the highlight of Thursday's 3-2 overtime loss to the Oilers, nearly notched his second as he hit the post at 14:41 of the second period.
Seconds later, defenseman Steven Santini knocked Panthers center Aleksander Barkov upside down tumbling into the Panthers bench.
Severson, who took three of the Devils' five first-period shots, opened the scoring at 5:59 with a shot from the right boards that deflected in off Keith Yandle's leg as the Panthers defenseman and Boyle completely screened Reimer.
But any momentum the Devils hoped to gain in a less-than-crisply played first period was sapped by three penalties, all taken in the Panthers' zone.
The Panthers had snapped an 0-3-2 slide on Friday night with a 4-1 win at Buffalo
