NEWARK, N.J. _ Western Conference hockey is a different game. And while the Devils tend to play a more fast-paced Eastern Conference style that has reigned supreme over the last three years, some matchups just don't, well, quite match up.
The matchup between the Devils and the San Jose Sharks appeared to be one of those until Sunday afternoon. Devils' coach John Hynes had spent much of the weekend emphasizing the fact that this team is not the same one that previously defeated the Sharks just once in the last six tries.
Hynes was exactly right, as the Devils snapped a four-game losing streak on Sunday afternoon with a 3-2 win over San Jose at Prudential Center, thanks in large part to a former Western Conference player: Kyle Palmieri.
The top-line winger scored twice for the third straight game, becoming the first Devil to do so, and Jean-Sebastien Dea continued to show his offensive upside with the deciding goal in the third period.
"I'm just getting some bounces," Palmieri said. "Things were a little flat in the first period but we took a deep breath, went out there and won a game in the third period."
The Sharks effectively limited New Jersey's high danger chances by pushing them out to the edges of the ice through the first two periods. But down 2-1 going into the third, the Devils used a strong net-front presence to score twice in the first 3:25.
Former Shark Mirco Mueller jumped over the boards for a shift and fired a shot that trickled past goalie Martin Jones. Dea, waiting at the crease, swept the rebound past Jones to put the Devils ahead for good.
Palmieri scored his second game-tying goal 37 seconds into the period when he tipped in a rebound from a shot by Andy Greene, his sixth goal in three games.
In order to get to the net, the Devils had to wake up.
"It was just getting our energy level up," Palmieri said. "They played well in the first two periods and I don't know who said it kind of reminded us of how it must feel to play us when we're moving our feet. There wasn't a whole lot of space out there for either team."
Palmieri tied the game in the second period with a wrist shot from the left circle during a 5-on-3 power play moments after Joe Pavelski gave the Sharks a 1-0 lead. He was set up three times before he finally delivered with a hard wrister over Jones.
Later in the second, Pavel Zacha turned the puck over in the neutral zone and it resulted in a loose puck in the back of the net. San Jose's Timo Meier capitalized at 15:35 and again the Sharks were ahead but the Devils were able to overcome it.
It took 143:51 minutes of the season for the Devils to trail in a game but it finally happened in the second period when Pavelski recorded his 700th point.
The Devils had a frantic few minutes of penalty killing to end the game after Stefan Noesen was whistled for holding the stick and they received a bench minor for too many men on the ice at the expiration of the first penalty. The Sharks pulled Jones to create a 6-on-4 advantage but the Devils killed it off. The penalty killed unit went 3-for-3 against the Sharks and is 1-for-11 through three games.
Keith Kinkaid made 37 saves, one of which started the sequence that led to Dea's goal. Kinkaid has been an integral part of the Devils' 3-0-0 start.
"His battle level is high, his rebound control is great and he looks confident in the net," Hynes said. "At the end of the day, there's no way you're winning three games in a row if you don't have excellent goaltending."
