Sam Montembeault’s stellar goaltending against the high-flying New Jersey Devils made the Montreal Canadiens look anything but one of the NHL’s weaker teams.
Montembeault stopped three breakaways and made 37 saves as the Canadiens shocked the Devils 5-2 on Tuesday night. The result ended New Jersey’s six-game home winning streak.
“I felt good. I was seeing the puck well,” Montembeault said. “We blocked a lot of shots to help me out. The guys came up with big blocks, but I remember giving up two breakaway goals on my blocker side against Carolina, and I worked on that a lot in the last few practices, so I’m happy to get the stops tonight.”
Defenseman Johnathan Kovacevic and Nick Suzuki scored in a 1:13 span in the second period to put Montreal ahead. Justin Barron, Rem Pitlick, and Mike Matheson also scored for the Canadiens (24-29-4).
The Canadiens, 15th in the 16-team Eastern Conference standings, had lost their previous two games by a combined score of 11-3.
“It’s definitely rewarding for a coach to see instant improvement and buy-in,” coach Martin St. Louis said. I always say that I think as coaches, you’re trying to convince them to do things a certain way, and when they do it and get rewarded, I think it’s a lot easier to convince them through the success we’re having. It’s a buy-in, and we have that.”
Jesper Bratt and Dawson Mercer scored for New Jersey, which lost only the third time in 18 games (13-3-2). Vitek Vanecek made 13 saves in his sixth season loss (24-6-3).
Devils defenseman Damon Severson wasn’t sure if the team took Montreal lightly.
“It was just we didn’t have it on the gas right from the start,” he said. “So we like to say we didn’t take it for granted, but maybe we did. And they’re still a really good hockey team. So it’s the NHL. You’re going to play good players and good teams every night. And they took advantage of us tonight.”
Montembeault was the difference, stoning Brendon Smith, Miles Wood, and Mercer on breakaways while making outstanding stops on Ondrej Palat and Bratt in close, the latter when he was looking the wrong way and the shot hit off his pad.
Kovacevic snapped a 1-1 tie at 2:29 of the second period, beating Vanecek from between the circles on a nice setup by Jesse Ylonen. It was his second goal of the season and first since Dec. 6.
Suzuki, who also had an assist, extended the lead to two goals with a shot to the corner on an odd-man rush after a New Jersey turnover in the offensive zone.
“I can’t say enough good things about Sam,” Kovacevic said. He’s been great for us all year, and tonight, he showed us again why we really have to thank him on a lot of those breakaways. I was out there for a few of them, and he has my back, so I appreciated that.”
Pitlick made it 4-1, capping a rush up the ice early in the third period. After Mercer scored on a power play to cut the lead to 4-2, Matheson scored into an empty net with 3:47 left to secure the win.
Game Notes
- The Devils recalled G Akira Schmid from Utica (AHL) on Tuesday. He served as the backup because Mackenzie Blackwood tweaked his lower body earlier in the day. Ruff said he will know more about Blackwood’s status on Wednesday.
- Mercer has goals in a career-high four straight games. Matheson finished with a goal and an assist, and Christian Dvorak had two assists.
- Ruff mentioned the Devils are dealing with some illness and players need more rest, so he gave the team Wednesday off.
- New Jersey is now 11-1 against Canadian teams this season.
UP NEXT:
- Canadiens: Visit Philadelphia on Friday in the third of a four-game trip.
- Devils: Host the Kings on Thursday in the third of four straight home games.
