Zacha scores twice to boost Devils against Canadiens

NEWARK, N.J. -- Pavel Zacha scored two goals to help the New Jersey Devils to a 5-2 win against the Montreal Canadiens at Prudential Center on Wednesday.

Taylor Hall had a goal and an assist, Kyle Palmieri and Nico Hischier scored, Marcus Johansson had two assists, and Keith Kinkaid made 24 saves for the Devils (9-9-2), who won for the first time in three games.
Zacha had the second two-goal game of his NHL career and first since a 6-3 win at the Toronto Maple Leafs on Oct. 11, 2017.
WATCH: [All Canadiens vs. Devils highlights]
"I'm just trying to focus on my game, my skating, being hard to play against and trying to win my puck battles and going to the net," Zacha said. "I'm trying to make quick decisions and it's working well now. My confidence is a little better now than before I was sent down to the minors earlier this month."
Zacha, who was assigned to Binghamton of the American Hockey League for four games before being recalled Nov. 13, has four goals in the past three games.

"That line (Johansson-Zacha-Jesper Bratt) has been a really effective line the past four or five games and I think you see [Zacha] kind of taking the puck himself and attacking on his own," Hall said. "He's such a big, strong skater and that's what he has to do. He should have more confidence now and should feel good with the puck. We need a guy like him to step in and play well for the rest of the year."
Max Domi scored to extend his point streak to 11 games (six goals, nine assists), Jonathan Drouin had a goal and an assist, and Carey Price made 23 saves for the Canadiens (11-7-4).
"We didn't match their intensity," Domi said. "If you want to win, you have to outwork the other team, but we'll bounce back. We have another game in 48 hours."
Zacha scored twice and Hall once in the second period when New Jersey extended its lead to 5-1. Hall scored off a pass from Egor Yakovlev to make it 3-1 at 8:59. The assist by Yakovlev was his first NHL point.

"I didn't call for the puck but I stayed open," Hall said. "Russian defensemen sometimes like to make the extra play every once in a while, so I just tried to stay open and I was ready for the pass. It was a great play by him and a heck of a first point."
Zacha made it 4-1 off a backhand at the left post at 10:01 before scoring a power-play goal off a snap shot from low in the left face-off circle for a 5-1 lead at 13:47.
"[Zacha] has an excellent shot and he needs to have a shot-first mentality," Devils coach John Hynes said. "When you have confidence in yourself, good things happen. He's confident and right now he's playing the right way, he's skating, he's competitive. When he does those things he produces offense."

Domi scored on his only shot of the game 10:52 into the third to pull the Canadiens within 5-2.
Palmieri scored off a deflection in the slot 6:26 into the first period to give the Devils a 1-0 lead. Drouin scored 24 seconds later off a wrist shot from the left circle for a 1-1 tie at 6:50.
Hischier, who returned to the lineup after missing four games with a thumb injury, made it 2-1 when he scored off a pass from Hall at 16:55.

They said it

"It's the kind of game you throw in the garbage. We didn't play well offensively or defensively and we let Price down." -- Canadiens forward Jonathan Drouin
"After 20 games I think we need to understand how important the defensive aspect of the game is and how your system, structure and commitment to that needs to continue to grow and get stronger over the next 20 games. The consistency in getting into high-danger areas offensively and understanding the impact that has on your ability to score and gain pressure, and power plays, will also be important the rest of the season." -- Devils coach John Hynes

Need to know

Domi is the sixth player in Canadiens history to have a point streak of 11 games or longer in his first season with Montreal. ... Hynes had no update on forward Joey Anderson, who played 1:44 of the first before leaving the game with an undisclosed injury at 5:54. ... Palmieri became the eighth player in Devils history to scored 12 or more goals in the first 20 games of a season and first since Zach Parise, who scored 13 goals in 20 team games in 2008-09 and 2009-10.

What's next

Canadiens: At the Buffalo Sabres on Friday (4 p.m. ET; MSG-B, TSN2, RDS, NHL.TV)
Devils:Host the New York Islanders on Friday (4 p.m. ET; MSG, MSG+, NHL.TV)