Playing for the fifth time in seven nights and the fourth game of a difficult six-game trip, the Canucks needed an inspired performance and got one from backup goalie Cory Schneider, who stopped 30 of 31 shots.
The score didn't stay that way long.
Andrew Alberts came into the lineup for Salo, and fourth-line winger Byron Bitz also played after missing two games with a sore hip.
The National Hockey League's best road team was all business, picking up something more valuable than vacant buildings with a sweep of two strong NHL teams.
The Canucks started well, as stay-at-home defenceman Aaron Rome didn't stay home pittsburgh penguins jerseys, skating past former Canuck Steve Bernier and calmly directing a huge rebound from Chris Tanev's point shot behind goalie Martin Brodeur at 8: 44.
ICE CHIPS: Devils' defence-man Kurtis Foster, a last-minute lineup scratch, was traded to the Minnesota Wild as part of the ransom New Jersey general manager Lou Lamoriello paid for diminished 35-year-old Marek Zidlicky. Besides Foster, Wild general manager Chuck Fletcher shook down the Devils for prospect Nick Palm-ieri, journeyman Stephane Veilleux, a second-round draft pick and a conditional pick.
With his team outshot 21-11 through 40 minutes, Schneider had to be excellent. He got his arm on Petr Sykora's power-play wrist shot, blocked a close-range rebound attempt by Zach Parise and made a terrific glove stop on Ilya Kovalchuk during a 3-on-1 rush.
No one has ever done Detroit and Newark on the same holiday. Or at all. But the Vancouver Canucks rarely visit a place they don't like.
Vancouver coach Alain Vigneault did what he could to keep his players alert, mixing his forward lines and giving 37-year-old defenceman Sami Salo his first mandatory game off of the season.
The Canucks' Schneider was largely responsible for that score standing into the third period.
With the Devils pushing late in the third, Schneider stopped Clarkson on a point-blank rebound.
The Canucks have scored 109 goals in their 34 games away from home.
After the taut, emotional roller-coaster in Detroit, any-thing short of a visit to Boston was going to be a letdown for the Canucks. Newark is not Boston.
For a Friday night game against last year's Stanley Cup finalist cheap nhl jerseys, and with a lengthy pre-game tribute to Devils' broadcaster Mike Emrick claude giroux jerseys, New Jersey still didn't fill the Prudential Center, which is one of the most drab new buildings in the league.
Any effects from Vigneault's line tweaking had worn off by the middle of the second period philadelphia flyers jerseys, when the Canucks looked tired and as lifeless as the crowd when it was 2-0.
So, yes, the Canucks' energy level was a concern.
But the goal seemed to take the edge off the Canucks, who generated few scoring chances before Mason Raymond suddenly made it 2-0 at 2: 07 of the second period. He cleanly beat Brodeur with a stick-side wrist shot from the top of the right-wing faceoff circle after Canuck David Booth used his speed to back off the Devils' defence.
Friday's win moved the Canucks into first place in the NHL, one point ahead of the Red Wings. Vancouver's road record this season is an absurd 22-10-2.
With defenceman Kevin Bieksa beaten on a 2-on-1, Devil Patrik Elias's pass to David Clarkson bounced off his teammate's skate and went in at 11: 30. The coin flip that seems to be the NHL's review process on kicked-in goals landed in New Jersey's favour and the game was 2-1.
Raymond played on a line with Booth and centre Cody Hodgson, while the wingers' usual centre, Ryan Kesler, skated with Chris Higgins and Jannik Hansen. First-line winger Alex Burrows took several shifts without Daniel and Henrik Sedin.
The Canucks get a chance to win another road game on Sun-day, this time in Dallas. The trade deadline is Monday montreal canadiens jerseys, but clearly not much needs to be done with the Canucks.
It was the surging Devils' second outright loss in a month, and the Red Wings' first defeat in Detroit since Nov. 3.
Despite fatigue and an emotional tank near empty, the Canucks beat the New Jersey Devils 2-1 Friday, one night after a rollicking 4-3 shootout win against the league-leading Detroit Red Wings.
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