JERSEY WHIRL

Devils shut out, put Schneider on IR

SHARKS 3 DEVILS 0

Even a healthy Cory Schneider might not have made a difference for the Devils.

Martin Jones made 28 saves for his first shutout of the season and 16th overall in the Sharks’ 3-0 victory over the Devils at Prudential Center on Friday night

Melker Karlsson, Joe Pavelski and Joonas Donskoi scored and Justin Braun had two assists to help the Sharks open a five-game East Coast trip.

Keith Kinkaid, the top goalie for the Devils with Schneider on injured reserve, stopped 30 shots as New Jersey’s three-game winning streak came to an end.

The Devils placed Schneider on injured reserve Friday with a lower-body injury and recalled Scott Wedgewood from Binghamton of the AHL to serve as Kinkaid’s backup.

“We were a little stubborn tonight,” Devils captain Andy Greene said. “We weren’t using our speed to create chances and to put them in foot races. We did it [in] spurts and we had some great chances, but we didn’t do it long enough and hard enough.”

The Devils couldn’t muster a strong push in the later stages against the rested Sharks. It was the Devils’ second game two nights following a 5-4 overtime victory in Ottawa. And it showed against the Sharks, who played a solid road game, pressed their advantage and solidly supported Jones.

“He played a really good game,” Devils forward Kyle Palmieri said of Jones. “He was solid. He’s a really good goaltender obviously with the success he’s had in San Jose. He’s a big guy who takes up a lot of net. He did a pretty good job of controlling his rebounds and making sure there weren’t too many easy looks for us.” Karlsson scored the lone goal of the opening period at 14:11 on a close-in shot following a slick behind-the-net setup pass from Tomas Hertl.

The shots were 13 for each team in the evenly played period. The Devils came close on several occasions as former Shark Mirco Mueller and Blake Coleman both hit the crossbar and Jones robbed Drew Stafford on a dead-on drive from the slot.

Pavelski and Donskoi got second-period goals as the Sharks steadily tightened their grip on the game.

Pavelski tipped in Braun’s point shot at 5:49. Joe Thornton got the second assist, his 1,395th point, to pass Luc Robitaille for 21st on the career list.

Donskoi backhanded a rebound shot with 1:10 left in the period in which the Sharks outshot the Devils 11-6.

The remaining drama centered on Jones’ shutout bid.