Canadiens at Devils
The Montreal Canadiens were well on the way to matching their longest winning streak of the season, only to blow a two-goal lead and fall in overtime to the defending Stanley Cup champion Washington Capitals. The Canadiens will look to rebound from the 5-4 setback when they begin a two-game road trip with a visit to the New Jersey Devils on Wednesday night.
"It's tough to lose when you're leading 4-2. We want to win," said Montreal's Brendan Gallagher, who scored his 10th goal and had a game-high seven shots on net. The Canadiens, already without top defenseman Shea Weber, learned Tuesday that fellow blue-liner Noah Juulsen will be sidelined indefinitely due to a facial fracture sustained in Monday's loss. New Jersey has dropped 11 of 15 games since opening the season with four consecutive wins but the team received good news on the injury front Tuesday. Coach John Hynes said No. 1 center Nico Hischier should be "good to go" after missing the last four games due to a thumb injury.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, Sportsnet1, RDS2 (Montreal), MSG-Plus 2 (New Jersey)
ABOUT THE CANADIENS (11-6-4): Juulsen, Montreal's first-round draft pick in 2015, was hit in the face with the puck in the first period Monday. With the Canadiens down to five defensemen, Jeff Petry played a staggering 33 minutes, 51 seconds to pick up the slack and also contributed at the offensive end with a goal and an assist. "I think he's been especially good for us this year. That's important because of Shea's injury," coach Claude Julien said. "Petey is one of the players who raised the level of his game and helped us fill the void in Weber's absence."
ABOUT THE DEVILS (8-9-2): Hischier, the top overall pick in the 2017 draft who has 12 points in 15 games, centered Taylor Hall and Kyle Palmieri at Tuesday's practice and also worked with the top power-play unit. "Nico is our first-line center and a big part of our future, a big part of our team," Hall said. "Hopefully he's healthy and ready to go and maybe a bit more energized after missing some games. It'll be good to have him back, not only for our team, but our line as well." Travis Zajac had two goals and four points in three games versus Montreal last season.
OVERTIME
1. Canadiens F Max Domi has five goals and nine assists in a 10-game point streak, the longest for the team since 1996.
2. Devils G Cory Schneider has lost 16 straight regular-season starts dating to 2017-18.
3. Montreal recalled F Michael Chaput from Laval of the American Hockey League.