Devils at Canadiens
The Montreal Canadiens attempt to defeat the New Jersey Devils for the third time this season when the clubs meet at the Bell Centre on Tuesday. Carey Price was in net for one of those triumphs with a 28-save performance in a 3-2 victory on Dec. 2 - a win that fits comfortably during his 14-3-2 stretch. Price also stopped 19 shots and defenseman Andrei Markov scored his second goal at 1:28 of overtime as Montreal posted an impressive 2-1 victory over Chicago on Saturday.
After getting the best of Blackhawks goaltender Corey Crawford, the Canadiens look to defeat their second straight Montreal-born netminder when they face Martin Brodeur. The future Hall-of-Famer owns an impressive 44-19-1 mark with five ties and a stellar 1.85 goals-against average versus his hometown team. Brodeur yielded three goals on 17 shots in that earlier setback to Montreal and has been idle for a week since stopping 25 shots in a 3-2 overtime loss to Philadelphia on Jan. 7.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, MSG Plus (New Jersey), RDS, TSN (Montreal)
ABOUT THE DEVILS (19-18-10): While Brodeur has been confirmed to start, the cagey veteran did his best to sidestep whether it will be his last at home. "It's always special to play there," Brodeur told reporters on Monday. "I don't think it's a lot more special than other times, but this is the last time in Montreal this year for everyone on our team, so we're excited." The 41-year-old owns a 19-9-1 mark with five shutouts and a 1.66 goals-against average at the Bell Centre.
ABOUT THE CANADIENS (26-15-5): Montreal spent a majority of Monday's practice focusing on its power play, which has failed on all 14 opportunities over the last four games and is 3-for-36 in the last 10. "We have meetings, we look at video, we work on the ice,” coach Michel Therrien told the Montreal Gazette. "... You don’t have to score every time you have a power play, but it’s important to create momentum. We haven’t been doing that."
OVERTIME
1. New Jersey C Adam Henrique scored his fifth goal in nine games in Sunday's 3-2 shootout loss to Toronto.
2. Devils RW Michael Ryder saw his four-game goal-scoring streak come to an end versus the Maple Leafs but did score in the home-and-home series with Montreal on Dec. 2 and 4.
3. Canadiens LW Rene Bourque hasn't scored a goal since his team's victory on Dec. 2.