Schneider the hero for the Devils

Goaltender Cory Schneider was unstoppable as the New Jersey Devils defeated the Washington Capitals 2-1 at the Prudential Center.

Stephen centre and Adam Henrique scored for the Devils, while Jason Chimera replied for the Capitals.

Capitals goaltender Michal Neuvirth made 29 saves.

The Devils are 5-1-2 in their past eight games while the Capitals have lost seven straight, the past five in regulation.

The Colorado Avalanche opened a three-game road trip with a 3-2 victory over the Florida Panthers.

The Avs got goals from Ryan O’Reilly, Paul Stastny and Jamie McGinn.

Avs goalie Semyon Varlamov (25-9-6) gave up two third-period goals, including one in the final two minutes, but hung on and is now tied for third in NHL for wins this season.

The Avs are on a 9-2-1 streak and rank fifth in the Western Conference with 69 points.

The Panthers, coming off road wins at Pittsburgh and Buffalo, are next-to-last in the Eastern Conference with 47 points.

Detroit resurgence

Captain Henrik Zetterberg, defenseman Niklas Kronwall and winger Gustav Nyquist had a goal and an assist each to lead the Detroit Red Wings to a 4-1 win over the Montreal Canadiens.

Riley Sheahan also scored for Detroit (23-18-10), who won their second straight at home for the first time since October.

Eric Nystrom had a career-high four goals for the Nashville Predators but the host Calgary Flames fought back for a 5-4 shootout victory.

Defensemen Mark Giordano and TJ Brodie, right winger David Jones and centre Mikael Backlund each scored for the Flames (18-27-7) in regulation and rookie center Sean Monahan had the decisive goal in the fourth round of the shootout.

Roman Josi had Nashville’s only goal in the shootout and Nystrom was surprisingly left on the bench despite his goal-scoring heroics during regulation for the Predators (23-22-8).

Three days after the struggling Vancouver Canucks ended their woes with a visit to Edmonton, the Phoenix Coyotes got their game back on track at the Oilers’ expense.

The Coyotes built a four-goal cushion and then hung on for a 4-3 victory after three goals in four minutes late in the first period and one early in the second.

For the Oilers, it was their sixth loss in a row and 11th loss in the last 13 games.

They remain last in the West and 29th in the NHL with a 15-32-6 record.