NEWARK, N.J.
Carey Price celebrated his 400th NHL game by posting his 200th win and Michaël Bournival scored his first two goals of the season as the Canadiens weathered a late run by the New Jersey Devils to win 4-2 on Friday night at the Prudential Center.
Price turned in another solid performance, but missed the shutout when former Canadien Michael Ryder took advantage of a giveaway by Alexei Emelin and beat Price off the rush. Another former Canadien, Michael Cammalleri, made it interesting with a goal at 14:11. Tomas Plekanec iced it with an empty-netter.
Back on top: The Canadiens have won eight of their last nine games and have won four consecutive games on the road. The victory moved them back into first place in the Atlantic Division. The Canadiens and the Tampa Bay Lightning have 52 points each, but Montreal is in the driver’s seat because it has played two fewer games.
Happy anniversary: Max Pacioretty scored his 15th goal of the season when he beat Devils backup goaltender Keith Kinkaid on a power play at 19:09 of the second period to give the Canadiens a 2-0 lead. The goal was scored on the sixth anniversary of Pacioretty’s first NHL goal, which he notched here against backup goaltender Scott Clemmensen.
Striking first: The Canadiens are starting to make a habit of scoring the first goal of the game. They have accomplished that feat only 15 times in 38 games, but when Bournival scored at 6:31 of the second period, it marked the third consecutive game in which Montreal has taken a 1-0 lead. Bournival was credited with his first goal of the season when his centring pass for Dale Weise was inadvertently kicked in by Devils’ defenceman Jon Merrill. There was nothing fluky about Bournival’s second goal. He went to the net and was in position to score on the rebound of a shot by Weise at 2:47 of the third period.
Nothing doing: There were no goals in the first period and not much in the way of scoring chances. Price had to deal with traffic in front of the net after he made a save on Adam Larsson at the eight-minute mark and Brendan Gallagher had Montreal’s best chance when he hit a post in the final minute.
Parenteau leaves: P.A. Parenteau was injured when he was the recipient of an open-ice hit by Tim Sestito in the second period. aFor the Devils, Ryder, Patrik Elias and Martin Havlat all returned to the lineup. Ryder missed three games with the mumps, Elias missed four games with the mumps and Havlat missed four games with the flu. Eric Gélinas was scratched because he was ill and Steve Bernier, who suffered a bruised hip in Wednesday’s 3-1 loss to Detroit, was held out as a precaution.
What’s next: The Canadiens wrap up their post-Christmas road trip Saturday night when they play the Pittsburgh Penguins at the Consol Energy Center. The Canadiens are back home for two important games next week. They play the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday with first place in the Atlantic Division up for grabs. The team will get a short breather before closing the week with a rematch against the Penguins on Saturday.
phickey@montrealgazette.com
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