SUMMARY
At the heart of a bad streak, the Canadian players will be able to draw positives from their performance on Thursday evening, even if the team suffered a fifth loss in a row.
Jack Hughes scored a goal and two assists, Jacob Markstrom made 21 saves and the New Jersey Devils beat the Montreal team 5-3 at the Prudential Center.
The Habs allowed at least one goal in the first five minutes of the game for the fourth time in five outings. He fought well and reduced the gap to a single goal three times, without finishing the job.
“I see a lot of things that I like and that will help us turn the tide,” said Canadiens head coach Martin St-Louis. And when we turn that around, I think we’ll be dangerous. »
“The things we talk about, I see them,” he added. Of course the result is disappointing, but we will review it and continue working. »
Alex Newhook, twice, and Brendan Gallagher scored for the Canadian (4-8-2). Samuel Montembeault stopped 22 shots.
“I think we played well enough to win,” Gallagher said. I’m not taking anything away from the other team, but we were a bit unlucky and we never gave up. »
“If we play like this for the rest of the season, these efforts will turn into a victory,” he added. It’s frustrating at the time, but we’re talking about a process and we need to continue to focus on that. »
Jesper Bratt had two goals and an assist, while Ondrej Palat and Jonas Siegenthaler also scored for the Devils (9-5-2).
Forward Lucas Condotta was inserted into the Canadian’s lineup in relief of Oliver Kapanen, who was loaned to Timra IK in Sweden on Wednesday.
The Canadian will play his next game on Saturday, when he visits the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Catch-up hockey
The Devils opened the scoring after just 1:33 of play. After Juraj Slafkovsky, Hughes made fun of Newhook and joined Bratt, who only had to deflect the puck in the opening.
The Canadian had two power play opportunities afterwards, but was unable to take advantage of them. Mike Matheson came closest to scoring, but his shot hit the post.
The Devils doubled their lead with 7:22 left in the first period. Kaiden Guhle lost a battle in the corner of his territory against two rivals, then Hughes set the table for Palat, who scored with a one-timer.
“I liked our first sequence, then the second. Then we have a player who loses his stick and the 86 (Hughes) has the puck… it’s not easy, said St-Louis. There is bad luck in that. It was a shame to lose 2-0, but I liked our first half. Then we fought in the second. »
The Canadian played with more confidence after returning from the first intermission.
Jake Evans first threatened with a nice run from one end of the ice to the other while shorthanded, but he came up against Markstrom.
The Habs finally reduced the gap to 2-1 at 5:00. Jayden Struble intercepted a pass in the neutral zone, then Evans gave the puck back to Newhook and his shot slipped through Markstrom’s equipment.
The Canadian knocked on the door again when Lane Hutson was patient before making a side pass to David Savard. However, it was the Devils who found the back of the net moments later at 10:20. Siegenthaler was forgotten to the right of Montembeault and he beat the Canadian goalkeeper following a pass from Erik Haula.
Gallagher gave the Habs a second wind by reducing the gap again to a single goal with 58.9 seconds left. He took advantage of a comeback after a good one-timer from Josh Anderson.
The Canadian had a few good chances to tie the game early in the third period. Markstrom made tough saves against David Savard and Emil Heineman.
After Heineman’s shot, the Devils were able to attack two on one. Bratt joined Hughes, who beat Montembeault by aiming from the side of the shield at 6:23.
Newhook once again got the Canadian going by scoring at 8:13. He carried the disc from one end of the ice to the other and mocked Haula entering the zone. His shot deflected against the stick of defender Dougie Hamilton before surprising Markstrom.
Subsequently, the Canadian shot himself in the foot by receiving two minor penalties. Montembeault kept his team in the game with good saves against Dawson Mercer and Hamilton.
The Habs replaced Montembeault with an additional attacker with more than two minutes remaining on the clock. This only allowed Bratt to score into an empty net with 26 seconds left in the game.
