MONTREAL, Que. -The Devils snapped a seven-game losing skid with a dominant 7-1 win over the Montreal Canadiens at the Bell Centre.
"We worked hard in a lot of games and didn't get rewarded. We came out really good tonight and we ended up finishing what we started," Devils head coach Lindy Ruff said post-game. "But I think the relief of getting that second goal, getting the third goal, getting a little breathing room and being able to just play."
"Our last few games we had some trouble with getting some goals, getting up on the board, and finally tonight we put seven in the back of the net," said Dawson Mercer post-game. "That was great for us, just to get everyone a touch, get back into the (winning) feeling, and hopefully carry that on to the next couple of games."
Michael McLeod paced his team with two goals and an assist while Dawson Mercer (1G, 1A), Jesper Boqvist (1G, 1A), Ryan Graves (0G, 2A) and Ty Smith (0G, 2A) also had multi-point performances.
Nico Hischier scored his second goal in as many games, Pavel Zacha added a power play goal, Tomas Tatar scored in his return to Montreal, and Colton White, Yegor Sharangovich, Damon Severson, and Andreas Johnsson each picked up an assist in the win.
Devils Rebound with Dominating 7-1 Win | GAME STORY
New Jersey snaps a seven-game losing skid with a solid 60 minute effort, and six different goal scorers

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WHAT'S NEXT
The Devils finish their road trip in St. Louis against the Blues on Thursday. The game can be seen on MSG+ and heard on the Devils Hockey Network, including right here at NewJerseyDevils.com. Puck drop is 7:08 p.m. ET.
Jon Gillies had 30 saves on 31 shots and was able to stay composed throughout the game. Graves complimented the goaltender's play following the win.
"He's been thrown in to a tough position. He was not in training camp, he wasn't with us early," Graves said. "He's come in, he's played well, he's getting better each game so it's nice to see."
"I think in the second period when we were getting a little bit of a push, the Canadiens were starting to come hard, we had to kill some penaltioes, he made five or six really good saves for us, that's the difference," said Ruff. "At key times of the game you need your goaltender to make those saves. I thought tonight he gave us that. Probably gave us his strongest game since he's been with us."
Following the Devils 4-1 loss in Ottawa Monday night, Devils head coach Lindy Ruff said that his team could not win if they only score one goal a night. In response, New Jersey scored two first-period goals, had three second-period tallies, and added two in the third.
"It's a combination of things, we played a pretty good game all around," Graves said on the team's performance. "I think our forwards really moving their feet down low made life on (the Canadiens') defensemen tough. We played fast, we didn't overhandle it and just played simple hockey."
The first period was a strong start for the team due to McLeod and Mercer's goals. McLeod tapped in a rebound off of a shot by Ryan Graves, who was consistently throwing pucks on net to create these types of opportunities. Colton White also picked up an assist on the goal in the opening five minutes of the game. Then, with four and a half minutes left, Dawson Mercer fired one past Canadiens goaltender Cayden Primeau to make it 2-0. Jesper Boqvist and Ty Smith picked up assists.
The second period has been a point of contention for the Devils throughout the year as New Jersey has allowed 60 goals against in the second period through 47 games. When Brett Kulak scored for the Canadiens six minutes in, it looked like tonight would be another tough stretch. However, unlike last night, the Devils responded with three goals in the second period to take a demanding 5-1 lead going into the final frame.
Midway through the period, Captain Nico Hischier scored in his second straight game, after capitalizing on a feed from Dawson Mercer. Both Mercer and Hischier hit the ten-goal mark during the game. Then in the final minute and a half, Jesper Boqvist scored and picked up his second point of the night. However, the scoring wasn't over as McLeod picked up his second goal and third point of the night, as he scored with just 20 seconds left.
Pavel Zacha scored a power-play goal just 17 seconds into the man advantage. His tally gives him three on the season, and ties him with Jesper Bratt for the team lead. Then with just under 10 minutes left, Tomas Tatar scored his first goal in 12 games to wrap up the scoring. Tatar played three seasons for the Canadiens before signing with the Devils in the off-season.
"We haven't had a lot of breaks recently, and I thought tonight we got some," said Ruff. "We deserved a lot of the goals we got. We had good net front presence, rebound goals, second opportunity goals, the stuff we've been talking about. I thought our defense and our motion inside the offensive zone really helped us."
Here are some other observations from the game:
A point of emphasis for the Devils heading into tonight was capitalizing on chances. New Jersey achieved that with seven goals; however, the work begins as the Devils will look to build consistency through the final game of the road trip.
"To try to build on it and play the same way. St. Louis is a good team so we're going to have to keep building on that. We had a bit of sloppy play for a bit there, and we definitely gave up some chances," Graves said. "We just (need) to keep building on it ... it's a lot more fun to play this way."
The Devils travel to St. Louis where they will face the Blues on Thursday night before returning to New Jersey. So far the Devils are 1-1-0 since the return from All-Star break.