(Montreal) The Canadiens tasted their own medicine on Tuesday night at the Bell Centre.
Jack Hughes had two goals and an assist, Vitek Vanecek made 25 saves and the New Jersey Devils beat Montreal 5-1.
The Devils (13-3-0) won a 10e straight game for the first time since the spring of 2006.
“They play a style similar to ours,” said Canadiens head coach Martin St-Louis. They are on you and use their speed in the offensive zone and in the defensive zone. They don’t give you a lot of space and they’re good as a zone entry. They know how to attack in waves. These are things we encourage our players to do and areas where we are improving. »
The Devils took control of the game in the second period, when they had an 18-5 shots on goal advantage.
The Canadian has particularly struggled to extend his time in the offensive zone.
“In the second period, the Devils showed us their speed and their pressure,” said St-Louis. We did a few bad plays, suffered a few bad leaps.
“In third, we had difficulty getting organized, getting out of our zone. The Devils are a very good team and they made it difficult for us. »
The Canadian thus saw his series of victories being slowed down to three.
“It was a big test for us tonight,” said St-Louis. I’m not saying we failed, but we didn’t score high enough to win the game. »
Evgenii Dadonov, with his first goal of the season, hit the target for the Canadian (8-7-1). Jake Allen stopped 34 shots.
Dougie Hamilton and Jesper Bratt each provided a goal and an assist for the Devils. John Marino scored in an empty net and Dawson Mercer had two assists.
Forwards Jonathan Drouin and Joel Armia missed the game with upper body injuries.
The Canadiens said after the game that Drouin was injured Nov. 5 against the Vegas Golden Knights. The duration of his absence is estimated between four and six weeks.
Michael Pezzetta and Juraj Slafkovsky have been added to the lineup. Slafkovsky was eligible for a return after serving a two-game suspension for a dangerous hit on Detroit Red Wings Matt Luff.
The Canadiens will be back in action on Thursday when they face the Blue Jackets in Columbus.
A owned team
There was plenty of action in the first half, although neither team hit the target.
Allen was the first to stand out with an unexpected save against Nico Hischier when the Devils were playing on the power play.
At the other end of the rink, Vanecek was saved by Marino, who grazed a Nick Suzuki pass to Cole Caufield on a Habs overrun attack.
Vanecek frustrated Pezzetta late in the period, controlling the Canadiens forward’s one-timer following a fine pass from Christian Dvorak.
The Devils opened the scoring after 3:57 of play in the second period, during a power play. Hughes beat Allen on the short side, while the Canadiens’ goalie had a cloudy view.
Hamilton returned to the charge 2:09 later. He fired a perfect shot into the top corner on a two-on-one attack following a turnover from David Savard in the neutral zone.
Dadonov finally put the Canadiens on the score at 9:55 of the middle period. A shot from Sean Monahan deflected off a rival before ending up on the Russian’s stick blade, who only had to fire into an open net.
Hughes, however, restored the Devils’ two-goal cushion before the end of the second period. The first pick in the 2019 draft hit home with a low shot from the side of the shield.
Tomas Tatar thought he had widened the gap for a moment early in the third period. The Devils’ goal, however, was disallowed following a challenge from St. Louis since there was offside on the streak.
Bratt finally delivered the coup de grace with 7: 41 to go, following a turnover from Brendan Gallagher on the blue line of the Canadian.
The Canadian replaced Allen with an additional striker with 3:54 to go. He fired a single shot on goal and Vanecek closed the door.
Marino completed the scoring by shooting an empty net with 2.4 seconds left in the encounter.
Locker Room Echoes
Goaltender Jake Allen said the Canadian didn’t play his best game.
“We weren’t able to execute the plays with as much precision as in the last meetings. And they have a great team with a lot of speed. They can quickly turn a mistake into a goal. »
Defender Joel Edmundson admitted the two teams played a similar style.
“We played that way in the last games. They beat us at our own game tonight. »
Evgenii Dadonov admitted to having lighter shoulders after scoring his first goal of the season.
“I imagine it was going to happen one day. But I feel better, yes. »
Nick Suzuki noted that zone exits were particularly difficult.
“We were stuck in our territory. They were able to move the puck well in our zone. When we attacked, it was a shot and then it was over. We couldn’t keep the pressure on them. »