MONTREAL — When NHL teams find themselves in times of trouble this season, there is nothing quite like playing the Montreal Canadiens to turn their fate around.
The New Jersey Devils showed that the saying still ran true on Tuesday night.
The Devils came into Montreal on a seven-game losing skid and Tomas Tatar hadn’t scored in 12 games. By the end of New Jersey’s 7-1 thumping win over the Habs, both of statistics were things of the past.
New Jersey had just dropped the first of back-to-back games 4-1 to the Ottawa Senators the night before. Coach Lindy Ruff was “really impressed” at how his players redeemed themselves.
“To come out with that energy in a back-to-back, you’re always worried because we come off (the All-Star) break,” Ruff said. “That first game you usually have good energy. Some times, the second game not as much but we got, what I would call, a four-line effort. We used all six defencemen and we had a real strong skating performance out of everybody.
Micheal McLeod scored twice, a first for him since Jan. 31, 2021. Dawson Mercer, Nico Hischier, Jesper Boqvist and Tomas Tatar, on his first game back in Montreal, added goals.
“I think we’ve been notably struggling lately so it’s nice to be back in the win column regardless of who we played and how it happens,” said Ryan Graves.
For Graves, the Devils got the upper hand on the Canadiens because they kept things simple. Something he feels his team should take note of going forward.
“We just played simple hockey, a lot of the goals were just shooting,” he said. “Mercer’s and (McLeod’s) were both rebounds, Boqvist had traffic on it. I think it’s maybe a lesson for us that goals can come simpler and that’s how we have to play to have success.”
Back from their all-star break, the Canadiens returned to their struggles. Montreal allowed five goals or more for a fifth straight game.
“We got embarrassed out there tonight,” said Josh Anderson. “We had a couple of mistakes that cost us goals and you’d think that after the break we’d be refreshed and ready to go but you guys witnessed it out there.”
“I feel embarrassed. We better be ready to go for the next game.”
Brett Kulak had Montreal’s lone goal. Jon Gillies blocked 29 of 30 shots.
Cayden Primeau allowed seven goals from 34 shots. For the first time in 2022, a Canadiens goalie played the full game without getting pulled.
McLeod broke the ice for New Jersey at 4:36 of the first period when he jumped on a Primeau rebound to net his fourth of the campaign.
Mercer doubled his team’s lead with 4:29 to go in the first. The Devils caught the Habs on the rush and the rookie from Carbonear, N.L. accepted Boqvist’s pass before beating Primeau.
The Canadiens attempted a comeback when Kulak’s wrist shot from the point whizzed through a crowd of players, past Gillies and into the net.
But the Devils scored three goals to end the second period. Hischier netted his 10th of the year followed by two goals in a span of 47 seconds late in the second.
Boqvist added a goal of his own, then, McLeod bagged his second of the night from another Primeau rebound to make it a 5-1 game 20 seconds before the intermission.
“When we came back to make it 2-1, the third goal put us on our heels,” Habs coach Dominique Ducharme said. “I think that’s where we need to be better and react better.”
“Even after the fourth goal at the end of the second. Those are things that break the energy and the rhythm but it’s in moments like these where the players that step on the ice need to bring the rhythm back.”
The Devils kept going, finding a sixth and seventh goal in the third. On the power play, Zacha’s shot from the top of the right faceoff circle deflected off of Primeau’s glove and in. Finally, Tatar scored in his first game back in Montreal from the slot, confirming New Jersey’s 7-1 victory.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 8, 2022.
Tristan D'Amours, The Canadian Press
