This Saturday, the New Jersey Devils headed north to take on the surging Montreal Canadiens. In a back-and-forth affair, the Devils won 4-3, thanks to an overtime winner from Jack Hughes. They improve to 28-17-6; the Canadiens fall to 24-20-5.
The first period was the Jesper Bratt show. First, he danced between two defenders and made a great backhand pass to Nico Hischier, who dunked it into an open cage. Then, he maneuvered his way to the middle of the ice and slid a backhand through Jakub Dobes’ five-hole to give the Devils a 2-0 lead heading into the first intermission.
But as they have in most recent games, the Canadiens answered back. Nick Suzuki blasted one past Jake Allen to cut the Devils’ lead to 2-1. The Canadiens started gaining momentum and had a few chances to tie but couldn’t get one to go. Then Tomas Tatar scored a gritty, hard-working goal to stretch the Devils’ lead to 3-1. But once again, the Habs were stubborn. Cole Caufield made an incredible move and sniped one to make it 3-2.
The Devils were 22-0-2 coming in when bringing a lead into the third period, but this one wouldn’t come as easy. The Habs stormed out of the gate and got rewarded as Alexandre Carrier blasted one past Allen to tie it. The Devils started to turn it up later in the period, but Jakub Dobes came up with numerous high danger saves.
It went to 3-on-3 overtime, which was quite the thriller. Both teams had plenty of chances, but it was J. Hughes who eventually buried the winner on a breakaway.
We have Jack Hughes. And you do not. pic.twitter.com/kexWvNOkop
— New Jersey Devils (@NJDevils) January 26, 2025
The Devils will return to action on Monday in Philadelphia; the Canadiens will remain home to face the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday.
