Montreal Canadiens goaltender Al Montoya will make his first start since a 4-2 loss against the St. Louis Blues on Feb. 11. Montoya is 4-1-1 in his past six games, and 6-2-2 with a 1.50 goals-against average and .938 save percentage in 11 games against the Devils. The Canadiens are 3-7-1 in the past 11 games, but haven't allowed a power-play goal (11-of-11) in four games since Julien replaced Michel Therrien as coach Feb. 14. "It's been a positive experience under Julien so far," center Alex Galchenyuk said. "He keeps the guys loose and we've had good practices and we've been comfortable with him." The Canadiens average 2.74 goals, tied for 15th in the NHL, but have scored 23 in the past 13 games (1.77). Montreal, which is playing the first of four games in six days, is first in the Atlantic Division with 74 points, having played two more games than the second-place Ottawa Senators. "We're not worried about streaks or what we can't control, but this is a good opportunity for us to gain momentum (after a 3-2 win at the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday)," captain Max Pacioretty said. "I liked the way we played against the Maple Leafs; maybe we need to make more tape-to-tape passes and try and be a little more crisp coming out of our end. We need to build off that win and not worry about the scores or streaks but building on the process of making sure we play the right way." The Canadiens have outscored the Devils 8-3 in winning both previous meetings this season.
