Patchwork Devils sting Canadiens again

DEVILS 2

CANADIENS 1

If the Montreal Canadiens don’t make the postseason, they can blame the lowly Devils.

Three games. Three losses. And only one point for a team fighting for its playoff life.

Monday night’s 2-1 defeat might have been one of the low points all season for Montreal. With the Canadiens needing a win to improve their hold on the top wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference, the last-place Devils beat them with a lineup that included seven players who spent the majority of the season with the Devils’ top minorleague affiliate.

“We just didn’t start on time,” Montreal coach Claude Julien said. “We didn’t play well enough to win a hockey game. This time of year you have to play 60 minutes and we didn’t do that.” The Devils did.

Nathan Bastian scored his first NHL goal and Kurtis Gabriel got his second. Recently acquired defenseman Connor Carrick set up both goals and Cory Schneider made 34 saves to cap the Devils’ best season series against Montreal since they went 3-1-0 in 2011-12.

“When you have young guys called up and guys in the lineup due to injury or trades, you need people to step up,” Schneider said. “The top line was getting keyed on, so to have guys step in and contribute like that was huge. We’re going to need everyone to contribute.”