Canadiens at Devils
The Montreal Canadiens look to strengthen their hold on first place in the Atlantic Division when they visit the New Jersey Devils on Monday. The Canadiens have seen their lead cut to two points over Ottawa thanks to a month during which they've gone 3-7-1 - and needed extra time to record the three victories, which all have come on the road.
One of those triumphs came on Saturday, when Andrew Shaw scored his first overtime winner since 2011-12 with Chicago just 1:06 into the extra session to give Montreal a 3-2 road win over the Maple Leafs. New Jersey is looking to salvage the finale of a three-game homestand and halt a three-game overall slide (0-2-1) after dropping a 4-3 decision in overtime to the New York Rangers on Saturday. The Devils are in danger of missing the playoffs for a fifth consecutive season as they stand eight points behind Toronto for the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference with five other teams between them. Kyle Palmieri scored a pair of goals Saturday to increase his team-leading total to 18 and climb within three points of Taylor Hall (41) for first on the club in points.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, Sportsnet East, RDS (Montreal), MSG Plus (New Jersey)
ABOUT THE CANADIENS (33-21-8): Carey Price notched his 259th career win on Saturday to claim third place on the franchise list - passing the legendary Ken Dryden, who holds a special place in the netminder's life. "Ken was the first Hab I ever met," Price told the team's website. "I met him in Williams Lake, BC when I was about eight years old and got his autograph on a piece of paper that I still have today." The 29-year-old Price needs 30 victories to tie Patrick Roy for second and is 55 behind franchise leader Jacques Plante.
ABOUT THE DEVILS (25-25-11): Palmieri's tallies against the Rangers, which came 47 seconds apart early in the third period, gave him five points over his last three games and helped him increase his lead to two over Adam Henrique, who also scored in the setback. The 26-year-old Palmieri had not recorded more than 14 goals during his five seasons with Anaheim but set a career high with 30 last campaign - his first in New Jersey. Mike Cammalleri, who scored 34 or more goals twice in his career, has only 10 this season and enters Monday with a 20-game drought.
OVERTIME
1. Canadiens captain Max Pacioretty is three points shy of 400 in his career while D Shea Weber needs three assists to reach 300 in the NHL.
2. Henrique's goal on Saturday ended a six-game drought that followed a stretch during which he tallied in four of five contests.
3. Montreal has not won in regulation since besting Buffalo 5-2 on Jan. 31.