Hischier's PP goal leads Devils over Canadiens
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Nico Hischier woke up New Jersey's anemic power play by scoring with 6:27 to play and the slumping Devils beat Montreal 4-3 on Saturday to send the Canadiens to their fifth straight loss.
Jesper Bratt, Timo Meier and Ondrej Palat also scored as the Devils snapped a two-game losing streak and won for the second time in five games. Nico Daws made 23 saves and got a little lucky when Josh Anderson hit a crossbar on a break.
Bratt added an insurance goal three minutes after the Hischier goal and it was needed as Nick Suzuki scored his team-high 22nd of the season and second of the game with 1:51 to play.
Brendan Gallagher also scored for the Canadians, who have lost 7 of 8. Jake Allen made 20 saves for Montreal, which might have been showcasing him with the trade deadline approaching next month.
Hischier's 19th goal of the season snapped a 2-all tie and was only the Devils' third power-play score in their last 48 attempts. They were 0 for 12 in the last three games. It came with Suzuki in the penalty box for slashing Hischier.
After outshooting the Devils 10-5 in a scoreless first period, Montreal twice took one-goal leads in the second 20 minutes, only to see New Jersey tie the score.
Gallagher opened the scoring at 3:06 with a shot from between the circles that was set up by linemates Jake Evans and Anderson.
Meier tied the game a little more than two minutes later, tapping in a excellent pass from the sideboards by defenseman Kevin Bahl, the first of his two assists.
Suzuki got his first goal at 13:07. It came on a quick counterattack triggered by defenseman John Kovacevic's pass to Cole Caufield at the Devils' blue line and an ensuing cross-ice pass to the open Canadiens captain for a shot past Daws.
Palat tied the game with 2:10 left in the second period, putting the rebound of a Simon Nemec shot past Allen, who was screened by Jack Hughes.
UP NEXT
Canadiens: Host Arizona on Tuesday night.
Devils: Host Tampa Bay on Sunday.
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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl