Credit: The Rink Live / Ed Mulholland-Imagn Images
New Jersey Too Much for Montreal to Handle, Grab 5-3 Victory
Published: Friday, November 8, 2024
by Kyle Ferreira
NEWARK, N.J - The New Jersey Devils (9-5-2) returned home Thursday night from their Western Canada trip and took down the Montreal Canadiens (4-8-2) by a score of 5-3.
Having won three of their last four games, the Devils wanted to keep the momentum going over a struggling Canadiens squad. However, some fans had concerns going into this game about how they would perform at home. Before Thursday night, the Devils were 3-2-2 on home ice. But this matchup showed they were ready to improve that record against Montreal.
In the first period, Jesper Bratt got the scoring started early when he tapped the puck in off a Jack Hughes’ pass, 1-0. Even with two early penalties from Johnathan Kovacevic and Bratt, the Devils were able to kill them and stay composed. The Devils would shine bright again in the offensive zone when Hughes set up Ondrej Palat for a nice wrist shot, making it 2-0.
Defensively, the Devils were putting the pressure on Montreal, who had one of the top goal scorers in the league in Cole Caufield. New Jersey was forcing turnovers, blocking any shot that came their way, and outmuscling the Canadiens. But Montreal was determined to rebound in the second period.
Five minutes in, Canadiens’ Alex Newhook was able to put them on the board and make it 2-1. But the Devils responded quickly, as Jonas Siegenthaler launched a powerful slap shot past Canadiens goaltender Sam Montembeault to make it 3-1. But Montreal scored just a few minutes later, when longtime member Brendan Gallagher notched his sixth goal of the season.
Unfortunately for the Canadiens, Hughes and Bratt would display a masterclass in the third period. After Montreal’s Emil Heineman was unable to convert on his shot, Bratt flew down the ice and found Hughes to make it 4-2. Bratt would then score on an empty netter late in the period to seal the 5-3 victory for the Devils.
Bratt was asked in the postgame interview how his line was feeling as a trio, which includes Palat and Hughes...
“We started supporting each other better, we started skating better, we’re closer to each other and that kind of sets up our O-zone plan.”
Hughes would later reinforce Bratt’s answer when asked how he thought it was feeling...
“I think we’ve had honestly a really good last bunch of games” Hughes added. “I think we’re in a good spot as a line.”
Another aspect of the game that was highlighted in the postgame interview was the penalty kill. The Devils denied both power play opportunities from the Canadiens, and head coach Sheldon Keefe has been pleased so far this season.
“Players have done a really nice job following the message. We got lots of penalty killers... we got lots of guys contributing.”
The Devils will look to continue their successful run of games Saturday at UBS Arena vs the New York Islanders. Montreal will head to Toronto to face the Maple Leafs Saturday.
Kyle Ferreira can be reached at kyle.ferreira@student.shu.edu.Posted in: sports,