Game 44: Montreal Canadiens @ New Jersey Devils
Start time: 7:00 PM EST / 4:00 PM PST
In Canada: Sportsnet (English)
In the Canadiens region: RDS (French)
In the Devils region: MSGSN
Streaming: ESPN+, RDS, Sportsnet
For the second consecutive game, the Canadiens welcomed some of the best offensive players in the NHL to the Bell Centre on Monday. Like they had versus the Edmonton Oilers’ top players of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, the Habs did well to contain Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen of the Colorado Avalanche. There was a stretch to open the second period when it seemed the task was going to prove too tough for Montreal as they could only survive waves of pressure, but they found their form again to limit the chances.
Unlike two nights earlier when the Canadiens only managed one goal, they were able to add some offence to their defensive effort, starting with a couple of power-play goals offset plays from the first-line forwards low in the offensive zone, then getting some depth scoring from the recently returned Rafaël Harvey-Pinard and then Joel Armia in the final minutes to secure a win. After a bad night versus the last-place San Jose Sharks, the Canadiens took three of four points versus hot teams with combined last-10-game records of 17-2-1.
There is no rest for the weary, as the Canadiens now begin a back-to-back that will end a stretch of six games in nine days. Before they head to Kanata for the first meeting of the season with Ottawa Senators, they’ve made the trip to Newark to take on the New Jersey Devils.
| Canadiens | Statistics | Devils |
|---|---|---|
| 18-18-7 | Record | 22-16-3 |
| 44.8% (29th) | Scoring-chances-for % | 54.1% (7th) |
| 2.70 (28th) | Goals per game | 3.46 (7th) |
| 3.35 (24th) | Goals against per game | 3.48 (28th) |
| 19.0% (19th) | PP% | 27.6% (3rd) |
| 73.3% (28th) | PK% | 7.1% (25th) |
| 0-1-0 | Head-to-Head Record | 1-0-0 |
The Devils are another good offensive team, but the reason they haven’t been able to go on a run like the Oilers and Avalanche is that they can’t keep the puck out of their own net. They actually play well defensively, ranking 11th in expected goals against at five-on-five and seventh in their penalty-kill minutes, but even that can’t compensate for the goaltending, an issue that refuses to go away for the team.
The Devils really don’t need much from their goaltenders. They’ve only lost three games when surrendering fewer than four goals against. But with neither Vitek Vanecek nor Akira Schmid able to plug the leaks, the team has had to turn to 23-year-old Nico Daws earlier than it would like to step into the crease. Daws has started five of the team’s last eight games, posting a 3-2 record and a .922 save percentage. He was trusted with playing versus three tough teams in his last few starts — the Vancouver Canucks, Florida Panthers, and Boston Bruins — stopping 105 of 113 shots for a .929 save percentage. You have to expect that head coach Lindy Ruff is going to stick with his new netminder as long as these performances last.
One thing that Ruff had no complaints about was the Devils’ power play, which ranks third in the NHL, making it the seventh top-10-ranked power play the Canadiens will play in the 11 games since the Christmas break. That was really just the work of Jack Hughes, who has 20 power-play points through 32 games played. However, he left the lineup after New Jersey’s game on January 5, and the man advantage hasn’t converted in the four contests since.
Montreal managed to win the special-teams battle versus Colorado, and with Hughes expected to miss several more weeks with an upper-body injury, the Canadiens might be favoured to win this one as well. The Canadiens still have to pay attention to Jesper Bratt and Nico Hischier, but those two aren’t on the same level as the other duos they just faced. What looked like a daunting three-game sequence when it came up on the schedule, especially after the Sharks game, could see the Canadiens come out with a 2-0-1 record.
