Clauge, Dvorak leads Canadiens over Devils

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Kale Clague had a goal and two assists, Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki each had a goal and an assist as a part of a three-goal first period and the Montreal Canadiens beat the New Jersey Devils 7-4 on Thursday night.

Christian Dvorak had a goal and two assists, and Chris Wideman, Joel Armia and Jake Evans also scored for the Canadiens. Jake Allen stopped 33 shots to help Montreal win for the second time in three games.

“He was great again,” Evans said about Allen. “I think we had a pretty good start to the game, and then I think we got a little comfortable and were making some not-smart plays, and he held us in there and kept the lead for us.”

Jesper Bratt, Ty Smith, Tomas Tatar and AJ Greer scored for New Jersey. Andrew Hammond allowed six goals on 19 shots before he was pulled early in the third period. The Devils dropped their fifth straight game, and 10th in their past 12, going 0-3-1 on their four-game homestand.

“We have to be better,” Tatar said. “We have to correct a lot of easy stuff that is not hard to do, and those kind of little things are taking over a game outcome, and they cost us today.”

Montreal built a 3-1 first-period advantage, then relied heavily on Allen the rest of the way. The goalie made 14 saves in the second period and 18 during a two-period span of 18:44 where New Jersey outshot Montreal 19-2.

“He played awesome tonight,” Wideman said of Allen. “He kept us in the game in the second, and thankfully we were able to reward him with a win. He deserved it.”

Greer cut Montreal’s lead to 3-2 with five minutes left in the second period with his first goal in his seventh career game with the Devils. Armia restored Montreal’s two-goal advantage 1:20 later.

Wideman and Dvorak scored