MONTREAL — Jack Hughes scored at 4:06 of overtime to lead the New Jersey Devils to a 4-3 win over the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday night at Bell Centre.
Jake Allen, making his first regular-season start against the Canadiens since being traded by Montreal to the Devils on March 8, 2024, made 29 saves in the win.
New Jersey (28-17-6) has now won two straight games after having dropped nine of their previous 11.
Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield and Alexandre Carrier scored for the Canadiens (24-20-5), who have lost back-to-back games for the first time since Dec. 12-14, 2024.
Jakub Dobes made 40 saves in the loss, the first setback of his NHL career. The Czech rookie goaltender had won his first five NHL games since being recalled by the Canadiens on Dec. 27.
The Devils played their first game without starting netminder Jacob Markstrom. The Swede suffered an MCL strain during New Jersey’s 5-1 win over the Boston Bruins on Wednesday. He is expected to miss between four and six weeks of action.
TAKEAWAYS
Canadiens: Montreal’s top line of Suzuki, Caufield and Juraj Slafkovsky were on the ice for all three Canadiens goals. The trio combined for seven points (2 goals, 5 assists).
Devils: New Jersey scored at least four goals in a game for just the second time in their last 13 contests.
KEY MOMENT
Suzuki won a faceoff clean back to Kaiden Guhle who passed to Carrier. His slapshot eluded Allen to tie the game 3-3 just over 3 1/2 minutes into the third period. It was the Quebec City native’s first goal since being traded to Montreal from the Nashville Predators on Dec. 18, 2024.
KEY STAT
The Devils won their ninth straight game at the Bell Centre, a streak that dates back to April 1, 2018.
UP NEXT
Devils: Visit the Philadelphia Flyers on Monday.
Canadiens: Host the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 25, 2025.
Jordan Stoopler, The Canadian Press
