The New Jersey Devils (37-15-5) fell to the Montreal Canadiens (24-29-4) 5-2 on Tuesday night. The loss snapped a six-game home winning streak for New Jersey and a two-game winning streak overall. Sam Montembault was the star of the show in this one, stopping 38 of 40 shots the Devils fired his way. He turned aside an astronomical 3.21 goals above expected for the Canadiens.
Game Summary
First Period
Early on, it was the Canadiens on the front foot. Vitek Vanecek was forced into several good saves in the opening minutes on Josh Anderson and Michael Pezzetta. However, that pressure ultimately paid off for Montreal. Justin Barron opened up the scoring four minutes in, beating Vanecek five-hole from the slot for his third goal of the season.
The Devils were unable to find an immediate response as they have made a habit of doing in the past week, but New Jersey did grow into the game. After controlling the play for the majority of the period, the Devils did find the breakthrough.
Jack Hughes found Jesper Bratt entering the zone and Bratt beat Sam Montembault with a wicked snap shot from the high slot with six minutes left in the period to tie the game. The goal was Bratt’s 23rd of the year while Jack Hughes picked up his 70th point with the assist.
Neither team could find the back of the net again before the horn sounded with the score still tied at one.
After the first, shots were 11-8 in favor of the Devils. The Devils had a 62.50 Corsi-for percentage (CF%) and a 58.50 expected goals-for percentage (xGF%) at five-on-five in the opening frame.
Second Period
Just like in the first period, it was a sluggish start to say the least for New Jersey. Montreal retook the lead just 2:29 into the second period after Jesse Ylonen picked out trailing defenseman Johnathan Kovacevic in the slot who squeezed the puck past Vanecek.
Miles Wood nearly had an immediate response, but was denied on a breakaway by Montembault. Then, just 73 seconds after the Kovacevic goal, Nick Suzuki doubled the Montreal lead, sniping the puck over Vanecek’s glove from the top of the far circle. The Canadiens scored on both of their first two shots of the middle frame.
After the pair of goals, the Devils began to dominate at five-on-five, consistently hemming in the Candiens, but could not solve Montembault. A Devils’ power play midway through the period also went to waste.
New Jersey had another great chance when Brendan Smith had a breakaway out of the box after a successful penalty kill, but like Wood, he was denied by Montembault. The Montreal netminder was the story of the game to that point, as he continued to stymie the Devils. The game headed to the second intermission with the Canadiens leading 3-1.
After two periods, shots were 24-12 in favor of NJ. In the second, NJ outshot Montreal 14-4 while posting a 77.14 CF% and a 80.30% xGF at five-on-five.
Third Period
The Devils immediately went to the kill after a Dawson Mercer hook just 40 seconds into the period. However, they were able to kill off the penalty, in part thanks to Yegor Sharangovich drawing a penalty while shorthanded.
On the ensuing power play, Mercer was denied on a clear breakaway as he was released from the box. Then, Montembault robbed Jesper Bratt while looking in the wrong direction after a beautiful feed from Jack Hughes. It was that kind of night for the 26-year-old goaltender.
The Canadiens once again made the Devils pay for their lack of finish. Rem Pitlick finished off a beautiful passing move from Evgeni Dadonov and Christian Dvorak, giving Montreal a 4-1 lead with 15 minutes to go.
After the Pitlick goal, the chances began to dry up, with neither team registering a shot for the next three minutes. However, New Jersey had another opportunity on the power play with nine minutes left and Dawson Mercer took advantage. He found a rebound in the crease and stashed it home, cutting the deficit to 4-2 with 8:02 to go.
Vitek Vanecek headed to the Devils bench for an extra skater with four minutes to go, but less than a minute later, Mike Matheson hit the empty net off a defensive zone faceoff to make it 5-2.
In the third period, shots were 15-6 in favor of NJ. The Devils had a 75.00 CF% and a 65.56 xGF% at five-on-five in the third.
Wrap-Up
Jack Hughes was the only Devil with a multi-point night in the loss. He had assists on both the Jesper Bratt and Dawson Mercer goals. Miles Wood also registered an assist on the Mercer goal.
Vitek Vanecek did not have his best night in net in the loss. The 27-year-old stopped just 13 of 17 shots against, finishing with a disappointing -1.80 GSAx. The regulation loss was Vanecek’s first in his last 14 starts.
Sam Montembault was fantastic in the win, stopping 38 of 40 shots and for a ridiculous 3.21 GSAx. He was deservedly named the first star of the game.
For the game, the Devils led in shots 40-18 and registered a 70.53% CF% and a 67.72% xGF% at five-on-five.
Game Notes
The Jack Hughes’ Line Struggles
In a game the Devils largely dominated, the Jack Hughes, Jesper Bratt, and Yegor Sharangovich line struggled to break even. Yes, the trio did combine for the Devils’ only five-on-five goal, but outside of that, they were relatively quiet.
As a trio, the Hughes line had just a 45.00 CF% and a 37.77 xGF% at five-on-five. With the line on the ice, scoring chances were 9-5 in favor of Montreal while high-danger chances were even at 2-2. This was the only New Jersey forward line to finish below 50.00 in either CF% or xGF%.
Tough Night for the Graves-Marino Pairing
While it was a tough night for the Hughes’ line, it was a tougher night for Ryan Graves and John Marino defensive pairing. Marino managed just a 25.75 xGF% while Graves was only slightly better at 36.14. These were the lowest two marks among Devils’ skaters. High-danger scoring chances were 6-1 Montreal with Marino on the ice and 6-4 Canadiens with Graves on the ice.
Marino did miss the morning skate due to illness and was a game-time decision which may have impacted his poor play. Per Amanda Stein, head coach Lindy Ruff said after the game that an illness is going around the locker room impacting several Devils who were playing through it. Regardless, it was a night to forget for the Graves-Marino pairing.
Big Night From the Third Line
New Jersey had some players have a tough night at five-on-five, but they did dominate the play for the most part. A big reason why was the Devils’ third line. Ondrej Palat, Erik Haula, and Fabian Zetterlund combined to post a 92.86 CF% and a 87.96 xGF% while skating together. Scoring chances were 7-1 in favor of the Devils while NJ led in high-danger chances 4-0 with this line on the ice.
As DAB’s own James Villani pointed out on Twitter, Zetterlund in particular had a superb night. He finished with a team-high 90.04 xGF%. It was a very nice bounce-back game after the 23-year-old who managed just a 20.87 xGF% in the win over Winnipeg on Sunday, the lowest mark on the team.
What’s Next
The Devils continue their home stand Thursday night against the Los Angeles Kings. MSGSN will have coverage of the game with puck drop scheduled for 7:00 p.m. ET.
Note: All statistics via Natural Stat Trick.