MONTREAL (AP) — Jack Hughes scored at 4:06 of overtime and the New Jersey Devils beat the Montreal Canadiens 4-3 on Saturday night.

Jake Allen made 29 saves in his first regular-season start against the Canadiens since being traded by Montreal to the Devils on March 8, 2024.

Nico Hischier, Jesper Bratt and Tomas Tatar also scored for the Devils, who won their second straight game after losing nine of their previous 11.

Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield and Alexandre Carrier scored for the Canadiens, who lost consecutive games for the first time since Dec. 12-14, 2024.

Jakub Dobes made 40 saves in the first loss of his NHL career. The Czech rookie had won his first five NHL games since being recalled by the Canadiens on Dec. 27.

The Devils played their first game without starting goalie Jacob Markstrom, who sustained an MCL strain during New Jersey’s 5-1 win over Boston on Wednesday. He is expected to miss between four and six weeks.

Takeaways

Canadiens: Montreal’s top line of Suzuki, Caufield and Juraj Slafkovsky was on the ice for all three Canadiens goals. The trio combined for seven points (2 goals, 5 assists).

Devils: New Jersey scored at least four goals in a game for just the second time in 13 contests.

Key moment

Suzuki won a faceoff back to Kaiden Guhle, who passed to Carrier. His slap shot eluded Allen, tying the game at 3 just over 3 1/2 minutes into the third period. It was Carrier’s first goal since being traded to Montreal from the Nashville Predators on Dec. 18, 2024.

Key stat

The Devils won their ninth straight game at the Bell Centre, a streak that dates to April 1, 2018.

Up next

The Devils are at the Philadelphia Flyers on Monday. The Canadiens host the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday.

Popular in the Community