Montreal stymies Devils
Shea Weber and Max Pacioretty each scored a powerplay goal on a major penalty early in the third period, and the visiting Montreal Canadiens snapped a two-game skid Friday night with a 3-1 victory against the New Jersey Devils.
Alex Galchenyuk added a goal and two assists, and Alexander Radulov had three assists as Montreal ended the Devils’ three-game winning streak. Canadiens goalie Al Montoya made 15 saves as New Jersey was limited to a season-low 17 shots in its return home from a four-game road trip.
Rookie defenseman Steven Santini gave the Devils an early 1-0 lead, but the Canadiens dominated after that, scoring all their goals on the power play ( 3 of 7) against Keith Kinkaid, who faced 26 shots.
Montoya had nothing to do for long stretches. New Jersey was held without a shot for more than 12 minutes after Santini scored, and it needed 13 minutes to get one in the second period.
Even with that, the score was tied, 1-1, early in the third period when defenseman Karl Stollery was called for a major boarding penalty against Canadiens defenseman Nathan Beaulieu in the corner to the left of Kinkaid.
Torrey Mitchell of Montreal got whistled for roughing on the play, but that still left the Canadiens with a threeminute power play after the teams played 4-on-4 for two minutes.
Weber scored his 11th of the season on a drive from the blue line at 3:01 that was set up by Radulov. Pacioretty got his 21st at 4:23 with a shot that deflected off the skate of Devils forward Adam Henrique.
Devils coach John Hynes screamed at the officials after the boarding call, perhaps in large part because he lost defenseman John Moore to a concussion Jan. 2 when he was boarded. No penalty was called on that play.
Santini put New Jersey ahead when he flipped a shot from just inside the blue line that floated into the top corner of the net.
Galchenyuk tied the score 74 seconds later with a shot from the left circle with Devils forward Miles Wood in the penalty box for slashing. The tally came 28 seconds after the penalty and on Montreal’s first shot with the man advantage.
Other games Sabres 3, Red Wings 2:
Kyle Okposo scored a powerplay goal 4:34 into overtime, and Buffalo rallied for a victory against visiting Detroit. Ryan O’Reilly had a goal and an assist, and Sam Reinhart also scored to help Buffalo overcome two, onegoal deficits. Anders Nilsson made 32 saves for Buffalo, which has won two in a row against Detroit in one season for the first time since 198990.
Blackhawks 1, Bruins 0:
Marian Hossa scored with 1:26 left to give Chicago a victory at Boston. Scott Darling stopped 30 shots for his second shutout of the season. Tuukka Rask made 21 saves for Boston, which has lost three consecutive games and four of its past five.