Blues end Devils' home ice streak

[December 10, 2016]  NEWARK, N.J. -- The New Jersey Devils had gone more than two months this season without losing a game in regulation on home ice, but that came to an end Friday night when Robby Fabbri, Jake Allen and the St. Louis Blues handed them a 4-1 defeat at the Prudential Center.

New Jersey, which had been 8-0-2 in its first 10 home games, trailed the entire way and mustered little offense against Allen, the Blues goaltender who finished with 20 saves. Allen is now a perfect 4-0-0 in four career starts against the Devils with a 1.00 goals against average.

The win was just the second for St. Louis in its last eight road contests, and came one night after a 3-2 loss in Brooklyn against the New York Islanders.

"I feel like (Friday) night we didn't fall off after a good start, unlike (Thursday)," said Fabbri, who scored twice against the Devils to give him eight goals on the season. "We just kept pushing through a full 60 minutes. All four lines were contributing, the D were great, and Snake (Allen) stood on his head. So, it was good, well-rounded effort."

The Blues grabbed an early 1-0 lead when Fabbri scored just 1:50 into the game. Defenseman Brad Hunt, making his Blues debut, slipped a pass to Fabbri at the top of the right circle and Fabbri snapped a shot past Devils goaltender Keith Kinkaid.

"It was a (great) play," Fabbri said of Hunt. "I was just coming into the play late and I didn't even think he saw me. I just called for it and he put it right on my tape."

An unlikely source helped St. Louis double its advantage early in the second period when rugged forward Ryan Reaves netted his first goal of the year, and first in 39 games dating to March 6 of last season.

With his back to the net, Reaves expertly deflected an Alex Pietrangelo right-point slap shot into the cage at 5:15 to make it 2-0 Blues.

"It was nice, and was a long time coming," said Reaves. "We've been getting our chances and the other two (linemates Scottie Upshall and Kyle Brodziak) have been putting some pucks in the back of the net, but I just can't seem to find it. So, it was nice to finally get that one."

New Jersey bounced right back and cut the deficit in half on P.A. Parenteau's first goal in 15 games just 1:21 after Reaves' score. Parenteau's initial shot off a Taylor Hall feed in front was denied by Allen, but he collected his own rebound and rifled his sixth goal of the season into the back of the cage to make it 2-1 at 6:36.

The assist extended Hall's point streak to four consecutive games, a span in which he has totaled eight points (3-5-8).

Instead of building momentum off Parenteau's score, the Devils handed it right back to the visitors by taking consecutive penalties and giving St. Louis 1:19 worth of a five-on-three power play. Damon Severson was assessed a roughing minor at 7:47 and Sergey Kalinin followed him to the box at 8:28 because of a tripping penalty; and the Blues capitalized on their good fortune shortly thereafter.

The Blues patiently worked the puck in the Devils zone and finally struck at 9:42. Jaden Schwartz, stationed to the side of Kinkaid, tipped a perfect Alexander Steen pass into the net, his 11th goal giving St. Louis a 3-1 lead.

"They had two more guys than us and it was good deflection," said Kinkaid, who finished with 28 saves.

John Hynes, the Devils head coach, said after the game that he didn't believe the goal St. Louis scored on the two-man advantage to restore their two-goal lead was the reason why his team lost on Friday.

"It'd be nice to have a big kill in that situation to get out of there with some momentum heading in the positive direction," said Hynes, whose team is 3-6-3 in its last 12 games overall. "I don't think it was necessarily the difference in the game, though."

St. Louis put the game away with 8:36 remaining in the third period when Fabbri's outstanding individual effort resulted in his second goal of the game and third in the past two nights.

"I am just trying to be consistent every night and play to my strengths," said Fabbri, who has seven points (4-3-7) in his last six games. "I want to be tenacious and when I get my opportunities, put them in."

The Blues road trip continues Sunday in Minnesota with a game against the Wild while the Devils skate against the Rangers the same night at Madison Square Garden.

NOTES: Except for switching from G Cory Schneider to backup G Keith Kinkaid, the Devils deployed the same lineup they used in Thursday's 5-2 loss in Montreal. ... Rookie C Pavel Zacha missed his third straight game due to facial lacerations while D Jon Merrill and C Jacob Josefson were New Jersey's healthy scratches, each for the fifth contest in a row. ... Devils LW Michael Cammalleri played in his 800th NHL game while LW Taylor Hall appeared in his 400th game. ... With D Carl Gunnarsson sidelined with a lower-body injury, D Brad Hunt made his Blues debut. ... Hunt is the leading scorer in the AHL this season with nine goals and 20 assists in 23 games. ... The Blues were also without D Robert Bortuzzo, who missed his third straight with a lower-body injury. ... The healthy scratches for St. Louis were RW Nail Yakupov and RW Ty Rattie.

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