NEWARK, N.J. — Halting the hottest scorer in the NHL was always going to be a tough task for the Montreal Canadiens. And for too long, it looked like they weren’t even that fussed about trying.
Taylor Hall and the New Jersey Devils earned a 6-4 win over the Canadiens at Prudential Center in Newark on Tuesday night in a game the home side led by as many as five goals. Hall picked up two assists in the contest, extending his point streak to a truly remarkable 26 games. While the left-winger didn’t score, Stefan Noesen, Blake Coleman, Travis Zajac (two), Pat Maroon and Brian Boyle all did, helping the Devils to a crucial two points in their quest to secure a playoff berth.
Of course, the post-season ship sailed long ago for the Habs, despite the fact they had actually picked up at least a point in their past seven outings before landing in Jersey. Anyone who considered those gains counter-productive to Montreal’s lottery interests would be thrilled with what the club showed against the Devils, especially in the first period. The players, mind you, were not.
“That’s unacceptable to start that way,” said Canadiens right-winger Brendan Gallagher, whose club was down 4-0 after Zajac popped two power-play markers late in the opening frame.
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While a number of things factored into the lopsided display — the Devils held a 17-5 shot advantage in the first — it sure felt like the standings had a lot to say about how this one went down. Montreal is searching for signs of long-term potential, while New Jersey — losers of three straight coming into this affair — couldn’t be more about the here and now.
“We played a team that is obviously desperate,” said Montreal coach Claude Julien. “They came out ready to play and we weren’t ready to counter that.”
Eventually, the Canadiens got pointed in the right direction, starting with Gallagher’s second-period marker, followed by a pair from Jacob De La Rose and one from Byron Froese. But that all came after the ugly opening 20 and perhaps no player epitomized the Canadiens’ early troubles more than Noah Juulsen.
It’s all about the ongoing auditions in Montreal right now and Juulsen — an aspiring star on the back end — has made it a little easier for fans to dream of a brighter future since joining the club on Feb. 22. But right from the word go versus the Devils, it was clear the youngster was in for a wobbly night.
On one of his first plays Juulsen turned the puck over to the last guy in the league you want to gift anything to right now — No. 9 in red — and Hall’s centring pass after he took possession easily could have resulted in the first goal of the game. Then, after getting walked by speedster Michael Grabner, Juulsen lost his man in front of the net, allowing Coleman to make it 2-0 New Jersey with 3:27 remaining in the first.
“You’re not going to be perfect,” Habs right-winger Andrew Shaw said. “Coming up as a young guy, fatigue can always be a part of it. He’s been playing a lot and it’s mentally exhausting as well.”
Another green blue-liner, 22-year-old Rinat Valiev, made his debut with the Canadiens after being acquired in the trade that sent Tomas Plekanec to the Toronto Maple Leafs. And while Valiev didn’t do much to stand out either way in the contest, he was in the penalty box when Maroon made him pay for his slashing sins just seven seconds into the power play.
About five minutes later, Boyle scored to make it 6-1 Jersey, which could have sent a Montreal team playing without lead horses Carey Price, Shea Weber and Max Pacioretty silently into the night.
“It could have been easy to say, ‘It’s not our night,’ but the guys fought back,” said Julien. “Especially when you’ve got a lot of young guys in your lineup, you like seeing those things.”
It was precisely that kind of resolve Julien was looking for when he left Charlie Lindgren in despite the six-pack of goals surrendered by the 24-year-old goalie.
“You don’t want to give him the easy out and say, ‘OK, we’re going to pull you out, it’s not your night,’” the coach said. “No, he’s got to fight through it like the rest of our team. I think that’s a great lesson for our team if we expect to move forward.”
You can certainly always count on determination from Gallagher, whose goal — which saw him drive 100 m.p.h. toward the net before roofing a backhand — marked his 24th on the season, matching a career high.
That tally put Montreal on the board and helped served notice that quitting, quite simply, isn’t cool.
“As a young guy coming up, you’ve got to look at that and learn from it,” Shaw said. “He’s in his sixth season and he’s working hard, competing as hard as he has from Day 1. It’s something you’ve got to do throughout your career. Once you make it, you can’t stop proving yourself.”
For a team in the business of teachable moments, maybe this game wasn’t such a bad thing after all.
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