Devils Lose Another At Home Against Canadiens

Ice Hockey, New Jersey Devils, Professional

January 18, 2024

NEWARK, NJ - The New Jersey Devils dropped another two points against the Montreal Canadiens with a score of 3-2 as they gave up a late goal Wednesday night at the Prudential Center.

It’s the same story as every other game this season. Slow start, no effort, giving up the first goal of the game once again.

The 2022 first overall pick, Juraj Slafkovsky found the back of the net after a pretty assist from Cole Caufield in the opening period. After 20 minutes, the score remained 1-0 Canadiens.

Just like the first period, the Canadiens were the only team to score in the second period with Joshua Roy scored putting them up 2-0. At the end of the second period, Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki took a double minor penalty, which opened up the doors for the Devils to get back into this game.

In the first two minutes of the third period, Luke Hughes and Alex Holtz both netted one and ended up tying the game on the double minor powerplay. Since Hughes scored before the first half of the double minor was up, the Devils were able to stay on the powerplay after he scored. The league’s third best powerplay was able to connect tonight as both of the goals were on the man advantage.

For the majority of the rest of the third, it seemed that this game was going to go into overtime. That was until a little less than five minutes were left and Caufield was able to net one and give the Canadiens a 3-2 lead and what would soon be the game winning goal.

The Devils did not necessarily play a bad game; it was the little mistakes once again that cost the team the game.

John Marino and Simon Nemec were on for each Canadiens goal. That is something to watch if the defensive pairs remain the same for the next game.

Goaltender Nico Daws made some key saves during the game, but most likely will be wanting the game winning goal back. He saved 22/25 shots against him tonight and had a .880 save percentage.

Timo Meier had a strong showing in his return from being injured. He had one assist, two hits and four shots in a little over 20 minutes of playing time.

The Devils take on the Columbus Blue Jackets January 19 in the first half of a back-to-back. The Devils need to pick up as many points as possible in this upcoming run as some of their injured players are making a return to the lineup.