Devils take over first place with rout of Montreal

Montreal Canadians goaltender Carey Price played well in relief of Jaroslav Halak in the Habs loss to Atlanta on Tuesday night, but he wasn’t the answer on Wednesday against the New Jersey Devils.  Making his first start since he was sidelined with an ankle injury in late December, Price gave up four goals with New Jersey scoring a fifth into an empty net in the last minute of the contest as the Devils routed Montreal 5-2.  With the victory, New Jersey took over sole possession of the NHL Atlantic Division heading into the All Star Break.

New Jersey led 1-0 after the first period on Paul Martin’s goal midway through the frame assisted by Paul Elias and John Madden.  Travis Zajac would score early in the second, set up by Zach Parise and Johnny Oduya to put the Devils up 2-0.  Montreal came back a few minutes later and cut the score to 2-1 on Josh Georges’ second goal of the season from Saku Koivu and Matt D'Agostini.  Johnny Oduya would score assisted by Paul Martin right before the end of the second period to put New Jersey up 3-1 heading into the final 20 minutes.

Zach Parise would add to the Devils lead just two minutes into the final period scoring his 28th goal of the year unassisted to put his team up 4-1.  Matt D'Agostini would cut into the lead with his power play tally assisted by Andrei Markov, but the Habs could get no closer and Paul Elias’ empty net goal with :55 seconds to play sealed the New Jersey victory.

New Jersey’s ascendancy to first place seemed very improbable just two months ago when the backbone of the franchise, goaltender Martin Brodeur tore his bicep.  Scott Clemmensen stepped in and has been solid in the starting role, improving to 19-9-1 with the victory.  The win over Montreal also represented the Devils’ 5th straight triumph, and coach Brent Sutter was clearly pleased with his team in his postgame comments:

"It's a credit to the players, staying with it and being strong. Being mentally strong allows you to handle adversity on the ice. We've dealt with adversity in the right way. Guys in that room have been through a lot, and they don't seem to get rattled."

Goaltender Clemmensen also praised his teammates:

"I don't feel like I have to win games by myself. I don't think the team feels they have to work harder to compensate for me, either. The team has confidence in me and I feel if I just play strong, I can let them do the rest."

Canadians coach Guy Carbonneau expressed displeasure with his team’s performance, though gave considerable credit to New Jersey for taking them out of their game:

“Tonight we struggled for 60 minutes, but that's the way the Devils play. They make you work hard, they make you push yourself. Give them credit, that's the way they play. We've seen this for the last 15 years. We didn't have enough people respond."

Montreal will get back into action after the All Star Break on Tuesday in Tampa, traveling to Miami for a game against the Florida Panthers on Thursday.  They’ll return to the Bell Centre on Saturday for a contest against the Los Angeles Kings.  New Jersey will also start the second half of the season on the road, traveling to Ottawa on Tuesday and Boston on Thursday before returning home for a game against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday.