THE SCOOP
The Devils quickly shift gears and head across the border to face the Montreal Canadiens at Bell Centre on Sunday night, wrapping up a home-and-home weekend back-to-back. New Jersey arrives in Quebec looking to exact some revenge after falling to the Canadiens 4-3 in a hard-fought shootout at Prudential Center on Saturday evening.
New Jersey now sits at 39-34-3 on the season. Despite Saturday's shootout loss, the Devils showed resilience by erasing a 3-0 deficit to force extra time. Jack Hughes and Timo Meier continued to drive the offense for New Jersey, with both forwards tallying a goal and an assist in the losing effort to help secure a hard-earned point.
The Canadiens, meanwhile, head back to home ice riding a massive eight-game winning streak. Montreal boasts a stellar 45-21-10 record (100 points) and sits comfortably in second place in the Atlantic Division. They've been one of the hottest teams in the Eastern Conference since the Olympic break and are actively pushing to lock up home-ice advantage for the first round.
Canadiens young stars Lane Hutson and Ivan Demidov both found the back of the net in Saturday's matchup, while Cole Caufield added two assists and remains one goal shy of 50. For New Jersey, Jack Hughes remains the primary offensive engine, and he'll be leaned on heavily to spark the group on Sunday as the Devils try to snap Montreal's surging streak.
