The Devils moved closer to their first playoff berth in six years by going 3-0-1 this past week and are now 5-0-1 over their last six games.
New Jersey scored twice in the third period to beat the Canadians, 2-1, Sunday night in Montreal.
Nico Hischier tied the game 26 seconds into the third period, and Taylor Hall's first career short-handed goal proved to be the game-winner with 4:07 remaining.
It was the Devils' fourth 2-1 regulation win all-time against the Canadiens in Montreal. The others (with New Jersey's goal scorers) were:• Nov. 4, 2006 -- Jay Pandolfo and Brian Rafalski• Dec. 5, 2001 -- Patrik Elias and Brian Rafalski• Dec. 16, 1999 -- Jay Pandolfo and Randy Mckay
Hall had scored 56 goals in his two seasons with New Jersey before the short-handed goal. Here are the players who scored more than 56 career goals for the Devils but none short-handed:
• Bobby Holik (1992-2002, 2008-09) -- 202• Randy McKay (1991-2002) -- 151• Scott Gomez (1999-2007, 2014-15) -- 123• Jason Arnott (1997-02, 2010-11) -- 110• Bill Guerin (1991-98) -- 108• David Clarkson (2006-13) -- 97• Brendan Shanahan (1987-91, 2008-09) -- 94• Paul Gagne (1982-86) -- 71• Greg Adams (1984-87) -- 67• Alexander Mogilny (1999-2001, 2005-06) -- 58
On Saturday night in Newark, the Devils beat the Islanders, 4-3.
Hall scored a pair of goals for the Devils in the win, his 26th multiple-point game this season, tying the Devils franchise record held by Kirk Muller (1987-88), Brian Gionta and Scott Gomez (both in 2005-06) and Zach Parise (2008-09).
Hall is now tied for the fourth most points all-time by a Devil in a single season:
• Patrik Elias (2000-01) -- 96 pts • Kirk Muller (1987-88) -- 94 pts • Zach Parise (2008-09) -- 94 pts • Brian Gionta (2005-06 )-- 89 pts • Taylor Hall (2017-18) -- 89 pts
Will Butcher had two assists in the win over the Isles, his 38th and 39th of the season to set a Devils franchise record (including their years in Kansas City and Colorado) for most assists by a rookie defenseman. A look at the top five:
• Will Butcher (2017-18) -- 39• Barry Beck (1977-78*) -- 38• Viacheslav Fetisov (1989-90) -- 34• Eric Weinrich (1990-91) -- 34• Scott Niedermayer (1992-93) -- 29* with Colorado Rockies
Blake Coleman scored the game-winner Saturday on the penalty kill, the rookie's third short-handed goal of the season.
Doug Brown (1987-88) and Adam Henrique (2011-12) each had four short-handed goals, the most ever by Devils rookies in a single season.
On Thursday night at the Prudential Center, New Jersey settled for one point with a 4-3 overtime loss to the Penguins.
Sidney Crosby scored the game-winner 19 seconds into overtime to give Pittsburgh the win.
It was the fourth fastest overtime goal allowed by New Jersey in club history and the second fastest by a Penguin vs. the Devils.
• April 5, 1987 -- Was 6 at NJD 5 (Lou Franceschetti, :12)• Jan. 28, 2000 -- NJD 3 at Car 4 (Jeff O'Neill, :16)• Feb. 10, 2001 -- NJD 4 at Pit 5 (Alexei Kovalev, :18)• March 29, 2018 -- Pit 4 at NJD 3 (Sidney Crosby, :19)• March 26, 2017 -- Dal 2 at NJD 1 (Tyler Seguin, :20)
Crosby's goal Thursday was the quickest overtime goal of his career. The only other time he scored in the first minute of a regular-season overtime period was at the 43-second mark at Buffalo on Dec. 22, 2008.
It was the fifth time the Devils lost on home ice to the Penguins in a regular-season overtime game. The others (with the game-winning goal scorers) were:
• Jan. 30, 2015 -- Pit 2 at NJD 1 (Simon Despres)• Nov. 1, 2015 -- Pit 4 at NJD 3 (Sergei Gonchar)• Feb. 8, 1987 -- Pit 2 at NJD 1 (Chris Kontos)• Dec. 23, 1983 -- Pit 6 at NJD 5 (Randy Carlyle)
Last Tuesday night in Newark, the Devils won the second game of the four-game homestand, 4-3 over the Hurricanes.
Kyle Palmieri scored two power-play goals and also recorded an assist for the Devils in the win.
The Elias Sports Bureau noted that it was the 14th career multiple-goal game for Palmieri but his first game with more than one power-play goal.
It was the third time this season a player had multiple power-play goals in a game for the Devils. Miles Wood had a pair on Nov. 12 in a 7-5 win at Chicago, and Travis Zajac had two on March 6 in a 6-4 win vs. Montreal.
Here are the Devils with the most games with at least two power-play goals since 1987-88 (courtesy of Hockey-Reference.com):
• John MacLean -- 10• Claude Lemieux -- 5• Kirk Muller -- 5• Patrik Elias -- 4• Scott Niedermayer -- 4• Travis Zajac -- 4
Plus/Minus:
Plus: Mojo Back. The Devils activated forward Marcus Johansson from injured reserve Sunday, but he did not dress for the game at Montreal.
Minus: Paying for Penalties. New Jersey has allowed eight power-play goals in its last 10 games after giving up just one in its previous 11.
