The New Jersey Devils defeated the Montreal Canadiens 4-3 in overtime on Saturday night at the Bell Centre. The Devils controlled most of the play, especially in the first and third periods, where they nearly doubled Montreal’s shot total. A few disconnected plays kept the game close, but the Devils prevailed in overtime, an area where they have struggled this season. With the win, the Devils improved to 28-17-6 and became the first team in NHL history to defeat the Canadiens nine consecutive games in Montreal. With the loss, the Canadiens fell to 24-20-5.
Game Recap
Period One
The first five minutes were low event. The Devils were a bit sloppy in their defensive zone, but they ultimately prevented many shots from reaching Jake Allen.
Allen came up big at one end, and the Devils responded with a good chance of their own that Montreal’s netminder, Jakub Dobes, saved.
The Devils started to tilt the ice in their favor, generating more shots and some zone time, but Brenden Dillon was tagged with a goaltender interference penalty.
Brett Pesce came up with a huge blocked shot, and the Devils killed the power play, allowing just one shot.
New Jersey applied more pressure after the penalty and Dobes made a few big saves to keep the Devils off the board.
Minutes later, New Jersey broke through at 15:52 thanks to Nico Hischier’s 24th goal of the season. Jesper Bratt earned a primary assist with a beautiful pass from the middle of the ice to find Hischier at the goal line. Stefan Noesen added a second assist.
Bratt doubled the Devils’ lead at 17:48 with a fantastic individual effort and a backhand shot through traffic that beat Dobes. Defensemen Dougie Hamilton and Dillon had the assists.
New Jersey outshot the Canadiens 12-6 in the first 20 minutes.
Period Two
Bratt continued his strong play and had another grade-A opportunity that rang off the post and out.
The Devils lost a board battle and failed to clear their zone, and the Canadiens cashed in with a goal from Nick Suzuki, who was open in the slot, at 3:50. Cole Caufield and Juraj Slafkovsky had the assists.
Dawson Mercer had a glorious opportunity after Lane Hutson turned the puck over right in front of the Canadiens net, but Dobes made his best save of the night to keep New Jersey’s lead at one.
The Devils had more pressure but couldn’t find the back of the net.
Curtis Lazar was hauled down, sending the Devils to their first power play. New Jersey had three shots but couldn’t convert on the man advantage.
The Devils regained their two-goal lead at 12:56, thanks to a great shift by the fourth line. Tomas Tatar was hard on the puck, kept with the play, and cashed in from in close. Hamilton and Lazar had the assists.
Timo Meier found himself on a breakaway for another dangerous look but Dobes kept the shot out.
Luke Hughes made a creative move to get to the net front but his backhanded shot was turned away.
Against the flow of play, the Canadiens pulled back within a goal after a cross check caused a turnover in the Devils’ end. Caufield scored from the slot at 17:05 with assists from Suzuki and Slafkovsky.
Hischier looked shaken up but remained on the bench to finish the period.
The Canadiens pushed to end the period and Allen made a few big saves to preserve the one goal lead.
The shots were even at 16 apiece in a wide open middle frame.
Period Three
The Devils weren’t sharp to begin the third period, but Allen came up big to bail them out.
Off a face-off, Montreal got the tying goal at 3:34 with a shot from Alexandre Carrier at the blue line that beat Allen through traffic. Kaiden Guhle and Suzuki had the assists.
The Devils responded with a great extended O-zone shift but couldn’t regain their lead.
Near the midway point of the third period, Hischier had only taken one shift and was not on the New Jersey bench.
The Jack Hughes line had an extended shift in the O-zone that had Dobes scrambling, but they couldn’t grab the go-ahead goal.
Noesen had a point blank opportunity but Dobes snagged it with the glove.
Luke Hughes made a great play on Hutson to eliminate a scoring chance off the rush.
The Devils surged as time wound down, but the game went to overtime.
New Jersey outshot the Canadiens 41-29 in regulation.
Overtime
It was a back-and-forth overtime period, but the Devils emerged victorious with a breakaway goal from Jack Hughes at 4:06. Meier had the lone assist with a nice takeaway and pass to facilitate the breakaway.
The Devils outshot the Canadiens 44-32 in the victory.
Takeaways
Goal Support
Since the holiday break, New Jersey really struggled to put the puck in the net. Beginning on December 28th against the Carolina Hurricanes, the Devils went 11 games without scoring more than three goals in a single contest. They averaged under two goals per game during that span.
While it is a small sample size, the Devils seem to have found their scoring touch again, having netted more than three goals in two consecutive games. Equally as encouraging is that the goalscoring has come from up and down the lineup. The top players, like Hischier, J. Hughes, Hamilton and Bratt, have come through, while depth scorers like Mercer, Tatar and Noesen have contributed at key moments.
It was unreasonable to believe that Devils players would continue to have under a 7.0 shooting pct., but it’s great that they look to have broken out of their slump sooner rather than later.
Stability in the Net
With Jake Allen taking over as the number one netminder for the next few weeks, Devils fans should be encouraged by what he’s done in net against the Bruins and Canadiens.
Against Boston, he stopped all 16 shots that he faced in relief of Jacob Markstrom. Against his former team, the Canadiens, he saved 29 of 32 shots for a .906 SV% and a .76 GSAx.
The statistics look favorable, but it still cannot be understated how many clutch saves he made for the Devils at crucial junctures of the game. The Devils had a few breakdowns in their zone that gave Montreal open lanes to the net but Allen came up huge to stifle momentum and put his team in position to bring home a big two points in the standings.
Injury Updates
Nico Hischier
Nico Hischier sustained an injury late in the middle frame after he took an uncalled cross-check to the ribs by Suzuki. He took just one shift in the third period before leaving the bench.
Postgame, Sheldon Keefe said that his status is expected to be day-to-day.
Jack Hughes
Jack Hughes suffered a finger injury against the Boston Bruins and received stitches mid-game but remained on the ice. He missed practice on Friday due to swelling.
Keefe noted that he was “less than 100%” against the Canadiens, but it doesn’t appear like he will miss any time.
Jacob Markstrom
Devils’ goaltender Jacob Markstrom sustained an MCL sprain on Wednesday, January 22 in the second period of a game against the Boston Bruins. He is expected to miss approximately 4-6 weeks.
Markstrom will not play for Team Sweden in upcoming the Four Nations Face-Off set for February 12th-20th. His roster spot was replaced by Flyers’ netminder, Sam Ersson.
Up Next
The Devils look to win a third consecutive game when they take on the Philadelphia Flyers on Monday night at the Wells Fargo Center. It kicks off a home-and-home series with New Jersey’s intradivisional rival from down the turnpike.
The Flyers sit 6th in the Metropolitan Division with a 22-22-6 record. They are 5-4-1 in their past ten contests and have lost their last two games.
This is the second of four meetings between the Devils and Flyers this season. The Flyers won 3-1 on January 18th, in what was one of New Jersey’s worst offensive performances in recent years.
Puck drop is set for 7:00 p.m. EST on MSGSN and NBCSP.
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