NEWARK -- Adam Henrique scored twice and Kyle Palmieri added an empty net goal to become the Devils' first 30-goal scorers since 2011-12 in a 5-1 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs Saturday night at Prudential Center.
Ilya Kovalchuk (37), Zach Parise (31) and David Clarkson all scored 30 during the 2011-12 season.
Henrique's goals came 9:43 apart in the second period and helped goalie Cory Schneider establish a new career-high with his 27th victory. Schneider had lost his previous six games.
Palmieri's 30th came with 2:56 remaining in the Toronto net empty. Patrik Elias and Zacha had assists on it.
In what could be his last game, Elias also assisted on Henrique's first goal and scored his 408th career goal with 15.9 seconds left to give him 1,025 career points.
The Devils, who snapped a four-game losing streak, finished 38-36-8 under rookie coach John Hynes for 84 points. That is six points better than last season's 32-36-14 record.
HIGHLIGHTS
Defenseman Steve Santini, making his NHL debut, wasted no time in drawing comparisons to Scott Stevens. He drilled Andrew Campbell with a shoulder hit at 5:06 of the first period. A dazed Campbell stumbled trying to get up and left the game.
Devante Smith-Pelly scored his first goal in nine games. He had seven goals in his first nine games with the Devils.
Pavel Zacha set up Smith-Pelly's goal. The assist was Zacha's first NHL point.
Late in the first period Zacha intercepted a pass in the Toronto zone and set up Patrik Elias for a scoring chance. Elias was pulled down by Morgan Rielly.
Adam Henrique scored his 29th goal of the season on the rebound of a shot from Adam Larsson. Elias also got an assist. It was his first point since Dec. 8 in Toronto, but this was only his eighth game since then.
Henrique scored his 30th at 10:42 on a pass from Tuomo Ruutu. The assist was Ruutu's first point in 33 games this season and his first since he collected an assist on April 4, 2015, against the Rangers at the Garden.
LOWLIGHTS
Elias had a chance for a goal in the first period but was hooked to the ice by Morgan Rielly before he could get a clean shot on net.
Lou Lamoriello's Maple Leafs will finish 30th, with the best odds at getting the first overall pick inn the 2016 NHL entry draft.
FIGHTS
None.
HEALTHY SCRATCHES
Devils: D David Warsofsky, LW Reid Boucher, LW Joe Blandisi, LW Bobby Farnham.
Maple Leafs: C Peter Holland, C Nazem Kadri (suspended), D Matt Hunwick.
NOTABLE
Hynes will coach Team USA at the world championships in Russia May 6-22. When Hynes was with US national program he went to Russia three or four times and is looking forward to this opportunity. Round robin play will mostly be in St. Petersburg.
"I'm really excited to be able to do that. Whenever you get a chance to play or coach for your country I think it's a unique opportunity," Hynes said. "The world championships is a great tournament and I think it's an opportunity to get better working with other coaches and general managers. I'm going to try and really help myself get better and hopefully we can use that in making or team and organization better next year."
Santini on whether he knew from the day he was drafted by Lou Lamoriello that the Devils prized defense: "Absolutely. I knew the Devils and what they were all about. Obviously (Scott) Niedermayer, (Ken) Daneyko and (Scott) Stevens. Some great Hall of Fame defenseman have played here. I'm just happy to be here."
Rich Chere may be reached at rchere@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @Ledger_NJDevils. Find NJ.com on Facebook