SPORTS> North America
Devils bounce back starring Clemmensen
(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-01-04 14:26

New Jersey goaltender Scott Clemmensen stopped 33 shots to guide the Devils to a 4-1 home victory over the Montreal Canadiens on Friday.

Montreal Canadiens winger Matt D'Agostini (36) backhands a shot off the mask of New Jersey Devils goalie Scott Clemmensen (35) in front of defenseman Johnny Oduya (29) in the first period of their NHL hockey game in Newark, New Jersey, January 2, 2009.[Xinhua] 

Clemmensen, who has been a major factor in his team's success since taking over for injured starting goalie Martin Brodeur in November, improved to 14-6-1 in net.

"We had a tremendous effort from our goaltender right on out," Devils coach Brent Sutter said. "I had tremendous confidence in the guys and how they responded. You can go right through the lineup, everyone played really well."

Zach Parise led the offense with a goal and an assist as New Jersey snapped Montreal's three-game win streak.

With a first-period snap shot, Parise ran his team-leading goals total to 22 and recorded his fourth score in the last four contests.

New Jersey (22-12-3) rebounded from a disappointing 2-4 defeat to the Dallas Stars on Wednesday and pulled within two points of the New York Rangers for the Atlantic Division lead. The Canadiens (21-10-6), second place in the Northeast, failed to gain ground on the league-leading Boston Bruins.

Goalie Jaroslav Halak was chased after allowing three goals in two periods for Montreal, which has been plagued by injuries.

Left wing Alex Tanguay will be sidelined for six weeks after sustaining a shoulder injury against Tampa Bay on Tuesday, joining Saku Koivu (ankle), Christopher Higgins (groin), Mathieu Dandenault (arm) and George Laraque (groin) on the inactive list.

Brian Gionta gave the Devils a 1-0 lead at 14:21 of the first period before Max Pacioretty scored for Montreal on his NHL debut two minutes later to tie the game.

Parise put the Devils back on top with 1:35 left in the first. John Madden scored at 11:11 into the second, and in the third Jamie Langenbrunner added the fourth.

New Jersey Devils goalie Scott Clemmensen (L) makes a save in front of Montreal Canadiens winger Max Pacioretty (67) and center Kyle Chipchura in the second period of their NHL hockey game in Newark, New Jersey, January 2, 2009.[Xinhua] 

"We had a very difficult time getting that fourth goal, even though we did eventually," Clemmensen said. "A 4-1 final score, I don't think was very indicative of the type of game it was tonight."

In Anaheim, Mike Richards scored the only goal in the shootout to lead Philadelphia 5-4 over Anaheim.

In Denver, Kristian Huselius scored twice in Columbus' easy 6-1 win over Colorado.

In Atlanta, the home side prevailed over Vancouver 4-3 in the shootout to snap a four-game losing skid. Elsewhere, it was: Hurricanes 2, Blues 1; and Coyotes 5, Islanders 4.