Devils start fast and hold on to beat Red Wings 4-3 (Jan 31, 2017)

DETROIT (AP) The New Jersey Devils skated with a sense of urgency as soon as the puck dropped, and Detroit did not.

That was costly for the Red Wings.

Kyle Palmieri scored twice and Cory Schneider made 27 saves, helping the New Jersey Devils hold on for a 4-3 win over the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday night.

Stefan Noesen gave the Devils the lead on their first shot 1:28 into the game. Palmieri put New Jersey ahead 2-0 less than five minutes later with the first of his team's two short-handed goals.

''We really stressed getting off to a good start, so it was huge to get those two early goals,'' Palmieri said. ''We didn't play well in the rest of that period, but we picked it up and got a big win.''

Detroit's Henrik Zetterberg scored with 1:47 remaining in the second, but the struggling team he leads stayed within a goal for less than 1 1/2 minutes.

The Devils went up 3-1 with 34 seconds left in the second on Palmieri's second goal.

''We've had some games where we let leads get away, so when they made it 2-1 late in the second, it was huge for Kyle to come right back and get that third goal,'' Schneider said.

Adam Henrique's short-handed goal midway through the third put New Jersey ahead by three goals midway through the third, and Detroit pulled within a score on goals from Tomas Tatar on a power play and Nick Jensen later in the period.

Detroit had an extra skater when Palmieri was called for interference with 2:16 left and pulled Jared Coreau about a minute later, but it couldn't take advantage of the opportunity to extend the game to overtime.

''Once I got in the box at the end, I was just praying they wouldn't score,'' Palmieri said. ''Luckily, the PK bailed me out.''

Coreau stopped 20 shots for the Red Wings, whose winless streak was extended to a season-high matching five games.

The Devils had lost two straight and three of four.

New Jersey and Detroit were two of the four teams to come out of the All-Star break with an Eastern Conference-low 49 points.

Coreau was fortunate he didn't give up a goal on the opening shift, getting a break when Palmieri's shot hit the left post. He could not, though, stop Noesen on his shot off a rebound.

''We came out a little slow and we have been lately,'' Jensen said. ''That's something we've got to fix.''

Palmieri scored an unassisted short-handed goal while draped by defenseman Niklas Kronwall, taking advantage of lackadaisical backchecking from forwards Gustav Nyquist and Anthony Mantha.

''It was 100-percent unacceptable,'' Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said.

Detroit had a 5-on-3 power play for 1:16 midway through the second period but failed to get a shot on net.

NOTES: New Jersey began the game with three short-handed goals this season and nearly matched that total in one night at Detroit. ... Detroit's Dylan Larkin played for the first time since Jan. 22, returning from an upper-body injury. To make room for Larkin, Drew Miller was assigned to the AHL's Grand Rapids Griffins ... Jensen scored his first career goal in his 17th NHL game.

UP NEXT

Devils: Host the Calgary Flames on Friday.

Red Wings: Host the New York Islanders on Friday.