MONTREAL — Nico Hischier wore the alternate captain’s “A” on his jersey for the first time in his career on Saturday afternoon. He then showed why is fast becoming a leader for the Devils.
The 20-year-old Hischier scored at 1 minutes 56 seconds of overtime in a 3-2 victory over the Montreal Canadiens. He had tied the game at 11:26 of the third period, getting his stick on a loose puck in the slot.
“He keeps getting better and better,” Devils forward Brian Boyle said about Hischier, the No. 1 overall draft pick in 2017. “If you watch his game and how it’s grown in the last year and a half, it’s really impressive. He’s been a leader in here with the amount he’s taken on since last year. He’s handled the ups and downs extremely well. Just look at his performance tonight.”
Will Butcher also scored, and Mackenzie Blackwood stopped 37 shots for the Devils, who won for the second time in six games.
Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Phillip Danault scored for Montreal, playing its first game in 10 days. Antti Niemi made 24 saves, with Carey Price serving a one-game suspension for declining an invitation to the All-Star Game. The Canadiens had won five of their previous six games.
“It was pretty obvious we were the best team tonight,” Canadiens Coach Claude Julien said. “We had a lot of chances. We lost in overtime because we just couldn’t finish our scoring chances. This would have been a much different game if we had taken advantage of those scoring chances.”
Kotkaniemi opened the scoring at 5:22 of the first period. Butcher tied it with 44 seconds left in the period on a two-man advantage. Danault redirected Jeff Petry’s point shot past Blackwood to give the Canadiens a 2-1 lead with 3:27 left in the second period.
“After two periods, we should have had an even bigger lead,” Julien said. “But when you let a team stay in the game like that, eventually it comes back to haunt you.”
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