Cory Schneider on a Roll After Back-to-Back Wins in Devils' Net

New Jersey Devils goaltender Cory Schneider looks like he’s finally off the skids.

The former Boston College All-America netminder has won three consecutive games following a personal 1-5-3 start in which the Devils (11-11-5 overall) struggled to give him some goal support. According to the Fire and Ice blog, his teammates had  just 12 goals in his previous 10 starts prior to Friday’s 5-2 win at Carolina.

Schneider's overall goals-against average this season is 1.72, third in the league. Even in losses, Schneider's GAA this season is 2.22.

“I don’t think we’re that kind of team that is going to blow teams out every night,” said Schneider to NJ.com following Saturday’s 1-0 overtime win over the Buffalo Sabres. “The reason is because our system allows us to play well defensively and not let teams blow us out, either. I think we have the talent and the ability. (Friday) night they (goals) went in and tonight they didn’t.”

Part of that talent is No. 35 himself, even if he went more than a month between victories with his new NHL club.

Schneider had originally expressed some frustration after sitting out three straight games following a 2-1 overtime win at Los Angeles on Nov. 21 where he stopped 34 shots against the Kings. 

He likened his situation to Groundhog Day, but said soon after there was no goaltending controversy between himself and future Hall of Famer Martin Brodeur, with whom he has split time so far this season in the Devils’ cage. 

“It’s not baseball where each starter gets 30 starts and you can use your ace and No. 5 guy the same way,” said Schneider on Friday morning. “There’s one net so you have to find a way to co-exist and play well. I think we’re going to do that and we have. There won’t be any problems.”

He only needed to make 16 saves that night as the Devils rebounded from a 2-1 deficit at Carolina with four third-period scores for the victory.

On Saturday night back home at the Prudential Center in Newark, the Marblehead, Mass. native stopped 15 shots, but in much tighter circumstances as the Devils outlasted the Sabres on Steve Bernier’s scoring wrist shot with just over 40 seconds left in overtime. It was also Schneider’s second shutout of the season and second as a Devil, his first coming in a 4-0 win over the New York Rangers on Oct. 19 in a 22-save effort.

“They had three power plays in a row,” said Bernier of the Sabres game. “He made some key saves for us to keep the game 0-0. Great effort by him.”

A former 2004 first-round choice by Vancouver, Schneider, 27, was traded to the Devils during the 2013 NHL entry draft that was held in New Jersey. Prior to this season, and not including three stints of 36 or more games with the American Hockey League’s since-moved Manitoba Moose, he had gone 55-26-8 with the Canucks, and was a member of Vancouver’s 2010-11 Stanley Cup Final squad.

Schneider has all the tools for success—size, mobility, awareness, experience—and despite what may have been said last week, a general ability to maintain his composure and let things roll off his back.

With Brodeur in his early 40s and in the twilight of his storied career, Schneider was obviously acquired to be New Jersey’s goalie of the near and foreseeable future. Now he’s doubled his win total and helped bring the Devils to within four points of the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, even if it’s long way to April.

“That’s all I’ve wanted to do is just win; help this team win and be productive,” he said to Fire and Ice after the Buffalo game. “You’ve got to play well. You have to produce. So, you have to get in there when you have the chance and pile up wins. I’ve moved beyond it. It’s just nice to get in the net again.”

He should be in the New Jersey net for quite a while these next few years—which is good news for Devils fans.