New Jersey came into Centre Bell as a bubble playoff team and shut out the third-place Canadiens with a suffocating defensive structure and a goaltending performance that erased every Montreal chance. This was a game decided by discipline, puck retrieval, and one goaltender operating 1.80 goals below the league average.
⚡TURNING POINT
Brown's 3-0 goal with 3:25 remaining sealed any mathematical hope Montreal had of a comeback and validated New Jersey's rope-a-dope structure. With nine power plays already wasted and no answer at 5v5, the Canadiens had no mechanism left to respond.
🏆WHY NJD WON
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Markstrom conceded 1.80 goals fewer than league-average goaltending on 18 shots — in a 3-goal game, that margin was the foundation everything else was built on.
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Hughes drove offense without the power play, recording 2 assists and 6 shots on goal in 21:41 of even-strength deployment that consistently generated zone time.
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New Jersey won 55.8% of faceoffs and blocked 19 shots, denying Montreal the possession resets and shooting lanes that their offense requires.
📉WHY MTL LOST
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Nine power plays converted zero times — that volume of failed special teams opportunity against a team playing a defensive trap is a self-inflicted elimination.
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Montreal's top forwards generated nothing at even strength: Suzuki, Caufield, and Newhook combined for 5 shots on goal and zero points across a combined 55:52 of ice time.
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Fowler conceded 0.10 goals above league-average on 19 shots — marginal, but in a shutout loss, any preventable goal matters.
Three Stars
Jack Hughes1st
NJD, C
2 assists6 shots on goal21:41 TOI+2
Hughes was the engine of every dangerous New Jersey sequence, setting up the first and third goals while leading all skaters in shot attempts.
Nico Hischier2nd
NJD, C
Stats unavailable beyond selection
Recognized as a key structural contributor to New Jersey's defensive-zone discipline and puck management.
Josh Anderson3rd
MTL, R
11:31 TOI0 points
Selected despite a statistically quiet night, reflecting his role in Montreal's limited competitive pushback.
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Montreal's nine power plays were nine opportunities to change a game their 5v5 structure never gave them — wasting all nine turned a winnable home contest into a shutout loss to a seventh-seed.
