The Montreal Canadiens defeated New Jersey Devils following a shootout, 5-4, and a massive rally they’ve created in this contest. At one moment of the game, the guests were down 3-0, but managed to find the strength to bounce back and to post their third win in the previous four events.
“You know we battle back from 3-0 and it’s a really good sign. You know we showed a lot of character, we needed that game, and we showed up in the second and third periods for big goals,” said Habs’ Ilya Kovalchuk, who turned out to be the hero of this match.
The veteran Russian who joined the Canadiens before the All-Star break was the only scorer during the shootout. Although he didn’t have a notable role during the regulations, Kovalchuk’s experience brought results when needed the most, and it appears that Habs’ decision to sign him until the rest of the season turned out to be very useful. Coach Claude Julien is more than satisfied with his performances since he landed in Montreal on January 3.
“He’s been a great influence in all aspects, from being a good example, his work ethic, his conditioning, his play, encouragement of others. He’s been a really good addition.”
Up until the middle of the second period, the Devils were already up three goals. At first, it was Milles Woods who beat Charlier Lindgren at 9:17 inside the first period. By the way, Lindgren was replacing Carey Price, who was ill and unable to participate in this one.
Kyle Palmieri netted the first of his two goals for the Devils 1:51 since the start of the second, and that was a power-play goal. Jesper Brat made it 3-0 with 6:44 in the middle frame.
The festive mood at the Prudential Center in Newark didn’t last for too long because Habs cut down the deficit to just one goal until the end of the second period.
It was Joel Armia who scored the first goal for the Canadiens a little bit less than seven minutes to go until the end of the third. In those moments, the guests were shorthanded, and this strike boosted their morale a lot.
Shortly after, at 17:06 of the second, Nate Thompson made it 3-2 after a nice individual effort, which ended with him blasting a wrist shot behind Louis Domingue. After this one, that festive atmosphere among the Devils’ fans was gone. But not only that, despair overwhelmed the arena, as Canadians scored two more goals in a row. Nick Cousins and Christian Folin added one goal each.
New Jersey managed to get out of this one with Palmieri’s second score of the match, 20 seconds before the buzzer. Both sides couldn’t score in the overtime, and the shootout had to decide a winner. As we already said, the Habs were better for Kovalchuk and his experience.
Montreal (25-23-7) now head back home to play against the Anaheim Ducks, while New Jersey (18-24-10) meets Philadelphia Flyers on the road. Both games are on Thursday.
