NEWARK Youth Jamie McGinn Jersey , N.J. (AP) Cory Schneider is no longer the forgotten man on the New Jersey Devils.It’s amazing what a good game in the playoffs can do for a veteran goaltender relegated to a backup role over the past month because Keith Kinkaid had been playing so well in leading the Devils to their first playoff berth since 2012.The 32-year-old Schneider got his chance to play in a meaningful game when the Tampa Bay Lightning smoked the Devils in the opening two games of the first-round series, outscoring them 10-5.The Devils turned to Schneider for Game 3 on Monday night and he made the most of it. He stopped 34 shots in a 5-2 win that allowed New Jersey to cut the Lightning lead in the series to 2-1 with Game 4 scheduled for Wednesday night.It was his first win since late December and snapped a 0-10-2 personal skid for the likable Devils’ mainstay who was never the same in the final months of the season after sustaining hip and groin injuries in the latter part of January.”Your job in these situations is to come in and win,” Schneider said Tuesday after not taking part in a skate mostly for players who were scratched on Monday.”I have said all along, I haven’t tried to veer from what I have been doing. It hasn’t gone my way recently for a number of reasons we don’t have to get into. I just viewed the playoffs as a fresh start, a new season and it didn’t matter what happened before.”Schneider said there was no need to carry an extra baggage into the playoffs. He was just excited to have a chance to rise to the challenge. He did and so did his teammates in rallying for four third-period goals to get back into the series.Devils coach John Hynes would not say on Tuesday whether Schneider would start, but it seems a good bet he will.Hynes said going with Schneider – his No. 1 goaltender the past three seasons- in Game 3 was not a gamble. He had wanted to play him down the stretch of the regular season but Kinkaid was too hot, going 10-1-1 in the 12 games that led to the Devils clinching a playoff berth.”We felt as a group that Cory had worked hard, he looked good in practice and you could tell that he was itching to play,” Hynes said. ”It just seemed the way the series was going Womens Jared McCann Jersey , let’s give him an opportunity to play. I think he was fresh and hungry.”Hynes said it was nice to see him play well because of how he handled not being the backup, a job that doesn’t attract the media to your locker.When Schneider came out on Tuesday, a crowd quickly surrounded him.Brian Boyle, who has more playoff experience than any player on the Devils roster, said having Schneider play well will push Kinkaid.”There is a lot of internal competition,” Boyle said. ”Guys want to get out and play. Those two want the net. They want to play, and when you play, you want to play more. If you channel energies the right way it will bring position energies for your team.”The goal for the Devils and Schneider will be to repeat their efforts in Game 4.”That game is done with. It’s over,” Schneider said of Game 3. ”It doesn’t matter how good you feel about it afterward. It all depends on how you come out the next game. We know they are going to regroup and be ready for us so it should be a good battle.”— PITTSBURGH (AP) The New Jersey Devils and their roster stuffed with speed and youth haven’t made the playoffs in six years. The drought for Taylor Hall is even longer. Eight years after being taken with the top pick in the draft Jonathan Huberdeau Jersey , the Devils forward is still waiting for his first taste of the NHL postseason.It may almost be over.Hall raced in alone and beat Matt Murray on a breakaway 27 seconds into overtime to lift the Devils to a 4-3 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday night and give their push for the last wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference a boost. New Jersey is now three points clear of ninth-place Florida with just over two weeks to go in the regular season.Pittsburgh’s Brian Dumoulin and Phil Kessel scored in the third to erase a two-goal deficit and force overtime but Hall handed the Penguins just their second loss in their last 17 home games when he loitered near the Penguins’ blue line, waited for an outlet pass from 19-year-old Nico Hischier then slipped a shot between Murray’s legs for his 33rd goal of the season.”I saw a chance to take off a little bit and get behind them,” Hall said. ”I was just hoping Nico was going to win his battle and, sure enough, he did.”Hall added two assists for New Jersey. Hischier finished with a goal and an assist, and Blake Coleman and Will Butcher also scored for the Devils. Keith Kincaid made 40 stops for the Devils, including 14 in the third period as Pittsburgh dominated.”It’s difficult to beat a team like Pittsburgh if you don’t get excellent goaltending because they’re so dynamic, they have so many weapons in their lineup that you know they’re going to get looks at certain times regardless of what you do and Keith came up with some big, big saves http://www.floridapanthersteamshops.com/authentic-keith-yandle-jersey , particularly in the third period late,” Devils coach John Hynes said.Sidney Crosby scored his 25th of the season for Pittsburgh. Murray finished with 30 saves as the Penguins pulled within three points of Washington for the top spot in the Metropolitan Division. Pittsburgh, however, missed an opportunity during a lethargic second period in which the Devils scored three times. Though they managed to get to the extra period, the Penguins understand they let a chance to beat New Jersey for the first time in three meetings this season slip away.As good as they were early and late, they were messy in the middle.”We have mental lapses for short periods of time and it’s costing us and you can’t have that this time of year,” Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan said.New Jersey’s drive to reach the playoffs for the first time since 2012 has been bumpy of late. A lopsided loss in San Jose dropped the Devils to just 13-12 since Jan. 30 and skated onto the ice at PPG Paints Arena with a tenuous grasp on a playoff spot.Yet whatever issues the Devils have seem to disappear when they play the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions. New Jersey is unbeaten against the Penguins this season, often beating Pittsburgh at its own game by relying heavily on speed to create mismatches.Crosby’s goal 2:29 into the game put Pittsburgh in front Butcher’s sizzling wrist shot from above the left circle 5:15 into the second tied it. When the Penguins failed to convert a 3-on-1, Coleman countered by holding off Pittsburgh’s forward Derick Brassard with his left hand and flicking a backhand by Murray with his right just over 2 minutes later to put New Jersey in front. Just over 90 seconds later Womens Authentic Nick Bjugstad Jersey , the Devils pushed their lead to 3-1 when Hischier flipped a centering pass into an open net.Though Pittsburgh stormed back, the Penguins couldn’t quite win for the sixth time this season when trailing after two periods.”We’re aware of (their quickness), but if we play in their end it’s hard for them to sue their speed,” Crosby said. ”We had success in the first and third period and that’s how we have to play.”NOTES: New Jersey F Miles Wood missed his second straight game with an upper-body injury. … Penguins D Justin Schultz’s 400th NHL game included a trip to the trainer’s room when he slammed into the boards in the third period, though Sullivan said afterward Schultz was fine. … Hall (81 points) is the first New Jersey player to reach the 80-point plateau since Ilya Kovalchuk in 2011-12. … Pittsburgh F Dominik Simon played 5:39 in his return after sitting out six games with a lower-body injury. … Linesman Tony Sericolo left early in the first period with an injury, but returned at the start of the second.UP NEXTDevils: Host Tampa Bay on Saturday.Penguins: Go for the season sweep of cross-state rival Philadelphia when the Flyers visit Sunday. The Penguins won the first three meetings by a combined score of 15-7.