New Jersey Devils at Montreal Canadiens

Devils beat Canadiens 5-1, extend winning streak to 10 games

Dougie Hamilton, Jesper Bratt, and John Marino also scored for New Jersey. Vitek Vanecek made 25 saves.

“It all about the team. It’s any line that’s contributing, a defense pair, the goaltender making saves,” Devils coach Lindy Ruff said. “When you’re going that well, it’s all about team play and everybody participating in the wins.”

Evgenii Dadonov scored his first goal of the season for the Canadiens (8-7-1). Jake Allen’ finished with 34 saves.

“They really showed their speed and their execution in that second period,” Canadiens head coach Martin St-Louis said. “It’s no coincidence that they’ve won 10 in a row and it’s a good test for us to take on, even if we didn’t get a good grade.

“There’s a lesson in everything and there’s definitely a lesson in this game, so we’ll have to go and find some answers in it.”

Montreal started aggressively and had the best scoring chance of the first period when Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield had an open two-man break but failed to convert.

The Devils opened the scoring in the second period. With Kirby Dach off for tripping, Hughes fired a perfect shot over Allen’s shoulder.

Hamilton doubled New Jersey’s lead minutes later by winning a puck battle and scoring on the short side.

“We got to work in the second (period) and really grinded them out,” Bratt said. “We really came back in the second and third period and showed our character.”

The Canadiens closed within 2-1 when a pass from Sean Monahan was deflected to Dadonov, who scored into a wide open net.

A giveaway in the defensive zone late in the second period left Hughes alone in the slot and he netted his second of the game.

With seven minutes left, another giveaway proved costly as Bratt capitalized and put the game out of reach. Marino added an empty-net goal in the final seconds.

IT’S RAINING GOALS

The Devils’ offensive production has been among the best in the league, with production coming from all over the roster. The team already has 18 goal scorers and has found the back of the net 43 times during the win streak.

UP NEXT

New Jersey: At Toronto on Thursday in the second game of a three-game trip.

Montreal: At Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday.

NJ leads series 1-0