The New Jersey Devils defeated the Montreal Canadiens 4-3 in overtime on Thursday night at the Prudential Center. The Devils only trailed for roughly eight minutes in the contest, but it was a resilient effort that saw the team clean up many of the small details that had plagued their game on the West Coast road trip and cost them points. With the win, the Devils improved to 10-4-0 and became the first team in the NHL to reach 10 wins. With the loss, the Canadiens fell to 9-3-2.
Game Recap
Period One
The Devils had the early edge, and just 1:53 in, Cody Glass snapped a wrister past Jakub Dobes for a goal in his first game back from injury. The tally was unassisted.
Just over a minute later, the Canadiens answered with a lucky bounce that ricocheted up in the air and dropped into the net behind Jacob Markstrom. Kirby Dach was credited for the goal as the puck hit his chest, sending it up and over Markstrom. Noah Dobson and Mike Matheson had the assists.
The shots were just 2-1 in favor of New Jersey as the period approached the halfway point, but the Devils controlled most of the puck possession.
Dach was tagged for goaltender interference after toppling Markstrom in the blue paint, sending the Devils to a power play. A loose rebound bounced to Stefan Noesen, who had an open net to shoot at, but the puck went off his skate and wide.
The Devils had a few more good looks after the power play, but they couldn’t quite connect to regain the lead. They had another great opportunity off the rush, but Dobes made the point-blank save on a redirection by Luke Glendening.
Timo Meier was called for a late tripping penalty, but it was negated seconds later after Ivan Demidov tripped Dawson Mercer, and the teams played four-on-four.
Cole Caufield and Jesper Bratt exchanged breakaway attempts, but both netminders held the score at one apiece, and all the penalties were killed off.
The Devils outshot Montreal 7-4 through 20 minutes.
Period Two
Meier had a great opportunity out of the gate, but fired his shot just wide. The puck bounced back for another look, but Dobes was able to cover. Jack Hughes nearly regained the lead for New Jersey with a backhanded shot that bounced off the inside of the goal post and out.
The Devils had a few more chances but were struggling to hit the net. Finally, at 8:05, Simon Nemec dished a nice, backhanded pass that found Ondrej Palat in front of the net, who buried his first goal of the season. Dennis Cholowski added a secondary assist.
Jack Hughes was tripped while dancing through the offensive zone, sending New Jersey to the power play. The Devils were in the zone almost the entire time, but couldn’t extend their lead despite some grade-A opportunities.
Of note, Dougie Hamilton wasn’t on the bench in the second half of the middle frame.
Nemec was tagged for a questionable hooking penalty late in the period, sending the Canadiens to the power play. Bratt connected with Jack Hughes for a shorthanded chance that Dobes fought off. The Devils killed the rest of the penalty.
New Jersey outshot Montreal 12-8 in the middle frame.
Period Three
Hamilton did not return for the third period.
The Canadiens tied the game just 59 seconds in off a weak shot that snuck under Markstrom’s pad, which wasn’t completely sealed to the ice. Josh Anderson and Dobson had the assists.
The Devils got another power play after a hooking call, and Dobson nearly put the puck in his own net to give New Jersey the lead, but ultimately the penalty expired with the teams tied at two apiece.
The Devils went back to the power play when Paul Cotter was caught with a high stick, but again, they couldn’t capitalize and fell to 0-5 with the man advantage.
Against the flow of play, Montreal broke the tie and grabbed a lead at 10:33 after a rebound in front of Markstrom found Oliver Kapanen. Alex Newhook had the lone assist.
The Devils were sloppy after surrendering the goal and struggled to clear the puck out of their defensive zone, a problem that was glaring during their underwhelming road trip.
Markstrom was pulled in favor of the extra attacker with just over two minutes left in the game, and the Devils eventually cashed in at 18:53, with a backhand from in close roofed over Dobes by Meier to tie the game. Mercer and Jack Hughes had the assists.
New Jersey outshot Montreal 26-19 in regulation time.
Overtime
The Devils had the early possession and created a good look that Dobes fought off.
The Canadiens gained possession after the save, but Bratt stripped Newhook of the puck for a clean-cut breakaway and beat Dobes through the five-hole at 1:33 to send the Prudential Center crowd home happy. His game-winner was unassisted.
New Jersey had the only two shots of overtime and outshot the Canadiens 28-19 in 60+ minutes for a 4-3 victory.
Takeaways
Special Teams Ups and Downs
The Devils’ penalty kill was, again, perfect on the night, killing off two minor penalties against a top-five power play in the league. It briefly faltered a few games ago against the Avalanche, but after some time to adjust to the Brett Pesce injury, the penalty kill has picked right back up.
At the other end of the spectrum, the Devils’ power play went 0-5 against a middle-of-the-pack penalty kill in Montreal. Ideally, New Jersey would’ve cashed in on at least one of those opportunities to eliminate the need for overtime in the first place, but they struggled to finish the good chances that they generated.
The power play wasn’t all bad, however. It created opportunities and had extensive zone time, but the finish simply was not there for the Devils against the Canadiens.
Resilience
The Devils were the better team for most of the game, but some unlucky bounces made the contest closer than it maybe should have been. Nonetheless, the Devils responded to adversity well and stopped the bleeding instead of letting it spiral, a trend that was present on the West Coast road trip, especially against the Colorado Avalanche and San Jose Sharks.
On Montreal’s first goal in particular, the Devils responded perfectly to a wild bounce that ended up in their net through no fault of their own. Especially so soon after gaining the lead, it was good to see the Devils immediately answer with the same style of play as before the goal against, and they controlled the rest of the period.
Beyond just this game, the Devils needed a strong bounce-back game to follow up on their lackluster road trip. Back on home ice, they delivered a performance more in line with what fans had gotten used to seeing on their eight-game winning streak. The work ethic was noticeably better, as well as puck protection. Even when they weren’t scoring, they appeared to be in control and spent a lot of time in their offensive zone, and it paid off, as New Jersey remained undefeated on home ice.
Aside from a few shifts in the third period, the Devils played much better in the D-zone in front of their netminder as well. They cleared the zone more efficiently and made it difficult for Montreal’s biggest offensive weapons to make plays.
Overall, it was a much more controlled, patient and mature effort from the Devils, a refreshing sight after their 1-3 road trip.
Injury Updates
Dougie Hamilton was injured in the middle frame of the contest and did not return. Sheldon Keefe didn’t have an update postgame but stated that he will be reevaluated on Friday to see where he is at.
Additionally, Brett Pesce was placed on injured reserve retroactive to October 26.
As for some of the other injured Devils, things are looking up. Glass returned to the lineup against Montreal after a seven-game absence, and Connor Brown and Zack MacEwen aren’t far behind him. Brown has been skating, but did not practice on Friday. MacEwen practiced with the team on Friday, skating with Brian Halonen as a fourth defensive pairing.
Up Next
The Devils are back to work on home ice on Saturday afternoon when they take on the Pittsburgh Penguins in a divisional matchup.
In a bit of an unexpected resurgence, the Penguins sit just behind the Devils in second place in the Metropolitan Division, with a 9-4-2 record. They are 6-2-2 in their previous 10 contests and are 5-3-1 on the road.
Most recently, they defeated the Washington Capitals 5-3 on Thursday night.
Puck drop is set for 12:30 p.m. EST on MSGSN.
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