MTL@NJD: Game recap

NEWARK – Whenever the Canadiens punched, the Devils punched back on Thursday.

The Habs repeatedly cut into New Jersey’s two-goal advantage, narrowing the lead to one on three separate occasions. However, with Montreal’s net empty, the Devils served the finisher to dismiss the Canadiens 5-3 at Prudential Center.

Alex Newhook went coast-to-coast for his second tally of the game, pulling the Canadiens within one in the final period but that’s as close as they would come. Brendan Gallagher scored the visitors’ other goal in Thursday’s outing in the Garden State.

Samuel Montembeault stopped 22 of the 26 shots he faced.

For more stats, check out the NHL’s Gamecenter summary here.

Roster

Montreal goals

P2 05:00 [1]-2 Newhook (Evans, Struble)

P2 19:01 [2]-3 Gallagher (Anderson, Dvorak)

P3 08:13 [3]-4 Newhook (Guhle)

New Jersey goals

P1 01:33 0-[1] Bratt (J. Hughes, Hamilton)

P1 12:38 0-[2] Palat (J. Hughes)

P2 10:20 1-[3] Siegenthaler (Haula, Cotter)

P3 06:23 2-[4] Hughes (Bratt)

P3 19:34 3-[5] Bratt (Unassisted)

What’s next

Game two of the Canadiens-Maple Leafs season series is set for 7:00 p.m. on Saturday at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto.