MONTREAL (AP) — Nico Hischier had a goal and an assist, and the New Jersey Devils beat the Montreal Canadiens 3-1 on Saturday.
Nathan Bastian and Tomas Tatar also scored to help the Devils earn their sixth win in eight games (6-1-1) and move two points behind Carolina for first place in the Metropolitan Division. The Hurricanes lost 4-0 to Las Vegas. Akira Schmid had 23 saves.
Denis Gurianov scored for Montreal and Jake Allen finished with 34 saves. The Canadians have lost six in a row (0-4-2).
Bastian picked up a loose puck behind goal, came around to the right side, spun and fired a shot past Allen for his sixth goal of the season to put the Devils up 1-0 at 8:24 of the first. period.
Hischier made it 2-0 with 1:01 left in the opening period when he redirected a Damon Severson pass for his 28th.
The Canadiens got on the scoreboard with 1:37 left in the second when Rem Pitlick stole the puck from Devils defenseman Damon Severson behind the goal line and sent a pass forward to Gurianov, who quickly beat Schmid for his room.
Tatar capped the scoring with an empty net with 90 seconds remaining in the third period. It was his 15th goal.
Devils: Host Carolina on Sunday night in the first game of a three-game home stand.
Canadians: They host Colorado on Monday night to end a four-game homestand.
