Darche scores winner, Halak stops 31 shots as Canadiens top Devils 3-1

Darche, Halak lead Canadiens over Devils 3-1

NEWARK, N.J. — Mathieu Darche had the go-ahead goal and an assist, and Jaroslav Halak made 31 saves as the Montreal Canadiens ended a three-game losing streak with a 3-1 win over the New Jersey Devils on Friday night.

Benoit Pouliot and Michael Cammalleri also scored for Montreal.

Zach Parise scored the only goal for the Atlantic Division-leading Devils, who have lost four of five. Martin Brodeur, making his 28th straight start, stopped 21 shots.

Parise opened the scoring with a breakaway goal at 5:16 of the first period. Jamie Langenbrunner, deep in his own zone, spotted Parise sprinting toward the neutral zone. Langenbrunner threaded a pass through the Montreal defense, sending Parise in alone to beat Halak with a backhander for his team-leading 21st goal.

The Parise-Langenbrunner duo almost connected again on a 2-on-1 break into the Montreal zone. Halak kept the deficit at one, making the stop on Langenbrunner.

That save loomed large later in the period when Pouliot tied it at 16:10. The sequence started with defenseman Andrei Markov slipping in from the point to test Brodeur with a hard shot from the left circle. Brodeur made the save, but Montreal controlled the puck. Former Devils center Scott Gomez set up the goal with a pass to Pouliot, who was left unchecked in the slot.

Pouliot, acquired from Minnesota on Nov. 23, has nine goals in 12 games.

Darche put Montreal ahead 2-1 at 4:35 of the second period. Darche, recalled from Hamilton of the AHL on Tuesday, deflected in Brian Gionta’s shot from just inside the blue line.

The Devils came out strong to start the third period and almost scored the tying goal on the opening shift. Halak was sharp, denying Langenbrunner’s backhanded attempt.

Cammalleri stretched the Canadiens’ lead to 3-1 at 11:53 with his team-high 24th goal off a nice setup by Markov. Darche earned the second assist.

NOTES: The Devils announced that RW Ilkka Pikkarainen cleared waivers. … New Jersey placed C Rod Pelley on the injured list (lower body injury). Ben Walter, son of former NHL player Ryan Walter, was recalled from Albany (AHL) to replace him. … Montreal released enforcer Georges Laraque on Thursday. … Gionta faced the Devils for the first time in New Jersey since leaving the team last summer as a free agent. … Devils rookie D Mark Fraser earned a decisive decision over Matt D’Agostini in a fight at 2:05 of the third period.