Devils use ‘D’ to end skid

After giving up 17 goals while losing four straight, the Devils used a strong defensive effort to end their first skid of the season.

Cory Schneider stopped 32 shots to help the Devils beat the Panthers, 2-1, at Prudential Center on Saturday night.

“You see around the league, scoring is going down,” Schneider said. “I think it’s that time of year — you’re playing more games so [there is] a little less energy to score goals. Teams are getting their systems down, guys are in a groove and defending better, and [they] have [their] goalie make a few saves. That’s the difference in this league.”

Damon Severson and Kyle Palmieri scored for the Devils, who had not lost consecutive games while starting the season 10-2-0 but were 0-2-2 in their past four.

“It was huge,” Palmieri said of the win. “I think our team was getting a little down on ourselves. We weren’t getting the results we wanted. This is a good way to propel us.”

Florida finished with a 33-21 advantage in shots, and the loudest reaction from the crowd came after defenseman Steven Santini drove Florida center Aleksander Barkov into the Pan- thers’ bench late in the second period.

“He was in their face,” Devils defenseman Andy Greene said of Santini. “It was good to see. It gave us some energy.”

Severson put the Devils in front 5:59 into the game with his second goal of the season. Jimmy Hayes won an offensive zone faceoff back to Severson, who fired a wrist shot past a screened Reimer.

“I guess you get a bit lucky,” Severson said. “I think it was going a little bit wide but just got a good bounce. [I’ll] take the goal, for sure.”

The Devils went 1-for-2 on the man advantage, and killed all four Florida power plays.