Nico Hischier tallied a goal and an assist as the New Jersey Devils defeated the Montreal Canadiens 3-1 on Saturday night.
Nathan Bastian and Tomas Tatar also scored for the Devils, who have now won six of their last eight games (6-1-1) and are just two points behind the Carolina Hurricanes for first place in the Metropolitan Division. Carolina lost 4-0 to Vegas. Akira Schmid made 23 saves for New Jersey.
“You’ve got to be comfortable being uncomfortable,” Devils coach Lindy Ruff said. “There are some uncomfortable moments when a game gets to 2-1. The other team’s going to push, and they have good players. (Jonathan Drouin) hit the post in the third. You have to be able to win a game 2-1 sometimes and wait for your opportunities.”
Denis Gurianov scored for Montreal, and Jake Allen made 34 saves. The Canadiens, who blocked 25 shots, have lost six straight (0-4-2).
“I think we played a good game,” Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis said. “We had a lot of turnovers in the first period and had to defend ourselves, but we did that well. We didn’t give them much, so I was happy about that. We improved in the second period, playing behind them more. Credit to them, they are fast and don’t give much space, but I think we managed well.”
Bastian picked up a loose puck behind the goal, came around the right side, and fired a shot past Allen for his sixth goal of the season, putting the Devils up 1-0 at 8:24 of the first period.
Hischier made it 2-0 with 1:01 left in the opening period, redirecting a pass from Damon Severson for his 28th goal.
The Canadiens scored with 1:37 left in the second period when Rem Pitlick stole the puck from Devils defenseman Damon Severson behind the goal line and sent a pass in front for Gurianov, who quickly beat Schmid for his fourth goal.
Tatar capped the scoring with an empty-netter with 90 seconds remaining in the third period, his 15th goal of the season.
“I think we’re doing a lot of good stuff right now,” Tatar said. “In some games, you get certain puck luck, but overall, we’re very happy with where our game is.”
RECORD-BREAKING PERFORMANCE
With a secondary assist on the Devils’ second goal, Dawson Mercer extended his point streak to 12 games. At 21 years and 133 days old, Mercer broke the franchise record for the longest point streak by a skater under the age of 22.
“What I’m noticing from Dawson is he’s playing a great 200-foot game right now,” Tatar said of his teammate. “He’s very good in every zone on the ice, and it’s fun to watch.”
Brendan Shanahan held the previous mark, having set the franchise record at 21 years and 65 days old between March 8 and 29, 1990. Only four Devils players have had longer point streaks: Taylor Hall (19 games in 2017-18), Brian Gionta (15 games in 2005-06), Patrik Elias (15 games in 1999-2000 and 13 games in 2000-01), and Petr Sykora (13 games in 2000-01).
UP NEXT
- Devils: Host Carolina on Sunday night in the opener of a three-game homestand.
- Canadiens: Host Colorado on Monday night to finish a four-game homestand.
