The Devils pinch out the Canadiens

Toffoli's hat trick sends Montreal's flame dark

Montreal strikes first

Qualification night lit all 32 candles, and by the end of it only 28 still burned. The New Jersey Devils came in after finishing 3rd of 32 last season. The Montréal Canadiens had finished 28th. None of that mattered here: lose once and your flame is gone.

Montreal scored first anyway. Justin Barron, a defenseman, snapped one home at 5:49 of the first off a Michael Pezzetta assist, and the Canadiens led at Centre Bell.

Toffoli takes over

Alexander Holtz tied it at 13:24 with a backhand, set up by Timo Meier and Dougie Hamilton. Then nobody scored for 24:58, until Tyler Toffoli wristed one in at 18:22 of the second off a Jack Hughes feed. Barron went to the box for cross checking at 18:40, and Nico Hischier opened the third with a power-play wrister at 0:34, from Hughes and Jesper Bratt. That goal stood as the winner.

Arber Xhekaj went off for holding at 7:10. Seven seconds after the call, at 7:17, Toffoli snapped in his second, again on the power play.

The Canadiens go cold

Mike Matheson, another Montreal defenseman, wristed one in at 10:35 from Cole Caufield to make it 4-2. Vitek Vanecek stopped 27 of the 29 shots he faced, and Cayden Primeau made 29 saves on 33 at the other end. With the Montreal net empty, Toffoli finished his hat trick at 19:34, and Hughes assisted on all three of his goals. The Canadiens' candle was snuffed. The Devils burn on.