MONTREAL (AP) — Tyler Toffoli had a hat trick against his former team, leading the New Jersey Devils to a 5-2 win over the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday night.
Alexander Holtz and Nico Hischier also scored for New Jersey, and Jack Hughes continued his hot start to the season with four assists. Vitek Vanecek stopped 27 shots.
Hughes, who entered the contest tied for third in the league in scoring, has 14 points in five games.
Justin Barron and Mike Matheson scored for Montreal, which was coming off a 3-1 win at Buffalo on Monday.
Canadiens goaltender Cayden Primeau made 29 saves in his first start of the season. Montreal was one of five teams to open the season with three netminders on the roster.
The Devils went 2 for 4 on the power play. The Canadiens were 1 for 4.
Tied at 1 late in the second period, Toffoli took a cross-ice pass from Hughes and buried a wrist shot past Primeau.
The 31-year-old Toffoli played parts of two seasons with the Canadiens, including scoring 28 goals in 52 games before Montreal made the Stanley Cup final in 2020-21.
Hischier increased New Jersey’s lead with a power-play goal 34 seconds into the third period, converting a feed from Hughes at the side of the net.
Toffoli added a power-play goal minutes later, scoring on a wrist shot off the draw.
Matheson got one back for Montreal, which pulled the goalie on the power play with nine minutes left. Matheson’s first goal of the season came after sliding the puck under Vanecek’s pads to complete an end-to-end rush.
The Canadiens pressed with the goalie pulled for most of the final four minutes, but Toffoli scored his third into an empty net.
Montreal opened the scoring when Barron banged in a rebound of a shot by Michael Pezzetta at 5:49 of the first period.
Alexander Holtz scored off a rebound seconds after a New Jersey power play to tie the game with 6:36 left in the first.
SAVARD SIDELINED WITH FRACTURE
Veteran Canadiens defenseman David Savard is out six-to-eight weeks with a fracture to his left hand.
Savard left Monday’s win in Buffalo midway through the third period after blocking multiple shots, one of which knocked off his skate blade, on the penalty kill.
The 33-year-old Savard joins centre Kirby Dach (knee) and defenceman Kaiden Guhle (upper body) as a recent addition to the Canadiens injured list.
Montreal recalled 25-year-old Gustav Lindstrom its AHL affiliate.
UP NEXT
Devils: Open a three-game homestand against the Washington Capitals on Wednesday.
Canadiens: Host the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday in the second game of a three-game homestand.
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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/NHL
