MONTREAL – Like a hitter who takes advantage of a bad shot from the pitcher, the New Jersey Devils capitalized on the turnovers of the Canadiens players to earn a 10e consecutive victory by winning 5-1 at the Bell Centre.
The Canadianwho wore his retro “powder blue Montreal Expos” uniform, was unable to hold back the youngsters Devils who have an impressive batting average this season. Here are our observations of the game.
A team on fire who enjoys
With their momentum of three wins in a row, the Canadiens seemed in good shape to overthrow their inspired visitors.
But Martin St-Louis’ proteges paid for too many turnovers. There was David Savard’s on Dougie Hamilton’s goal, Jordan Harris’ on Jack Hughes’ second goal of the night and Brendan Gallagher’s on Jesper Bratt’s goal.
Let’s add that Cole Caufield was lucky since Tomas Tatar had also scored following a turnover on his part, but an offside canceled it all on the restart.
“The Devils made it difficult for us, it’s no coincidence that they won 10 online games. It was a big test for us, we didn’t fail, but we didn’t have a high enough score to win,” targeted St-Louis.
“In general, it was a difficult game, not fair for our defensemen,” admitted St-Louis.
A machine that hits hard
We don’t blame fans for not watching Devils games or highlights often. But the indifference should fade towards this beautiful little hockey machine.
Not only does this organization have several talented players like Hughes, Hamilton, Nico Hischier and Dawson Mercer, but it deploys a fast style and multiplies the shots at the net (2e rank in the NHL with an average above 37).
For this stop in the Montreal amphitheater, the Devils reached the number of 39.
“It’s quite a hockey team! With Vegas, it’s the most demanding test we’ve had and it wasn’t our best match, there’s no doubt. We had just had a good little streak, it will sometimes happen to escape one, ”said goalkeeper Jake Allen.
“We knew they were playing well, they’re a fast team that imposes pressure everywhere on the ice. We were not able to find solutions and we ended up playing too often on the heels and in our territory. This is not a good recipe for our team, ”summarized captain Nick Suzuki.
Allen limited the damage
The result would have been worse without Allen’s excellent work in front of the CH cage. The Jean-Béliveau Trophy winner stopped several other Devils threats.
The list is long, but he notably held the fort against Tatar, Hischier and Miles Wood.
On the fourth goal, he had just frustrated Dawson Mercer and Hughes before being foiled on the third occasion.
“Against a team like the Devils, if you’re not sharp… They deploy a tremendous amount of speed and they can turn a small chance into a goal in time to say it,” Allen targeted.
Relief for Dadonov
At his 12e game of the season, Evgenii Dadonov finally scored his first goal and collected his first point. Luck was there as Sean Monahan’s shot deflected off an opponent’s skate and landed on Dadonov’s paddle in front of an open net.
“It was supposed to happen one day, but for sure I feel better,” Dadonov said.
Still, the trio of Monahan, Dadonov and Anderson created plenty of offensive threats.
It happened in front of a fairly busy press gallery in the scouting section. Even Anaheim Ducks general manager Pat Verbeek was on hand.
The importance of special units
Only once in their 10-game winning streak have the Devils failed to score a power-play goal.
Against the Canadiens, Hughes’ first goal was scored via the power play. Moreover, his perfect shot in the top of the net would have beaten a ton of goalkeepers especially Nathan Bastian synchronized well his passage in front of Allen.
Thursday night, in Columbus, the Canadian will try to recover after this first setback in four games. Saturday, it will be more of a duel against the Flyers on Montreal soil.