A joyous P.K. Subban thanks David Desharnais and Brian Gionta for bailing him out.
AP Photo/Julio Cortez

Occasionally, you get one of those crazy games that makes hockey so great. When the Devils hosted the Canadiens in Newark, we got just that. Through two periods, New Jersey trailed Montreal 1-0. For Cory Schneider, it was business as usual. He never gets offensive support. So, it wasn’t much of a revelation that his team hadn’t scored on Canadiens’ backup Peter Budaj. Up till that point, the only shot that beat him came off the stick of former Devil Brian Gionta. He cashed in on a three-on-two back in the first by finishing off a Daniel Briere cross ice feed.

The Devils hadn’t played poorly by any stretch. With rookie call up Reid Boucher inserted into the lineup, they were hoping to catch lightning in a bottle. Coach Pete DeBoer emphasized secondary scoring. Outside of ageless wonder Jaromir Jagr, they hadn’t been getting much from anyone else. Jagr has great chemistry with Travis Zajac and Dainius Zubrus. At 41, he leads them in goals (11) and points (22). The issue is DeBoer felt he was overusing him. The minutes had crept over 20 recently including a frustrating 3-2 loss at Montreal Monday.

By giving Boucher an opportunity following 10 goals and 18 points with Albany, they’re hoping the 20-year old former 2011 fourth round pick can provide a spark. Playing alongside Patrik Elias and Steve Bernier, he did. It took until the third for the Devils to solve Budaj. Andrei Loktionov came close to beating him in the second but took too much time with a gaping et. He finally caught a break when a routine turnaround shot went through Budaj’s five-hole tying it. The play was set up by Marek Zidlicky and Michael Ryder. Ryder had been a disappointment entering with only six goals. That wasn’t what Devil architect Lou Lamoriello had in mind. On another play started by Loktionov, Boucher passed for Ryder, who fired a rocket from the left circle top shelf for his seventh. It was the former Habs’ second straight game with a goal.

Suddenly leading 2-1, Schneider was in position for a rare victory. But wins have been hard to come by for the former Canuck netminder who Lamoriello traded his 2012 first round pick (Bo Horvat) for. A Damien Brunner hooking minor put the Habs on the power play. After they did a solid job killing it off, the Devils couldn’t clear the zone. On somewhat of a broken play, Lars Eller steered in his own rebound to tie it 2-2 with 3:50 left in regulation. After taking an Alex Galchenyuk funny carom off Schneider, he fanned on his first attempt and then found the second to notch his eighth. Somewhat of a fluke similar to Galchenyuk’s winner the other night after an innocent shot went off his stick and in.

As it turned out, the fun was just beginning. Already, three goals had been scored between two stingy defensive teams. You would’ve figured it would stay tied and go to overtime. Eventually, it did. Just not the way anyone envisioned. On a Devil forecheck, Montreal defenseman P.K. Subban accidentally coughed up the puck leading to an early Christmas present for Elias. Making no mistake, the all-time Devil franchise scoring leader buried a shot upstairs for a 3-2 lead with 1:06 remaining.

Game over. Right? Not so fast. With the crowd still buzzing following Elias’ unassisted tally, the Canadiens stunned everyone by tying it once more. After Subban pushed the puck back up the ice with Budaj on the bench for an extra attacker, they got set up. The puck came to Gionta, who quickly fired a shot that beat Schneider with 37 seconds remaining. Gionta’s shot was redirected by David Desharnais. Once in coach Michel Therrien’s doghouse, he’s picked it up offensively. Before it would count, video review confirmed that his stick wasn’t above crossbar height. It allowed a red hot team to get a new life.

”I was sure it was a goal,” Desharnais said. ”I tipped one earlier this year that was a little higher than that, so there was no doubt.”

So, a low scoring contest became a wide open affair thanks to a combined five goals in a wild third. Talk about a rollercoaster of emotions. The overtime was also up and down with each team trading chances. It was classic fire wagon hockey. But as usual, nothing was decided. So, a very entertaining hockey game went to a shootout. Entering, the Devils were 0 for the shootout. They were 0-5 for the season and 0 for their last 20 attempts. Something had to give. Feeling good about his rookie, DeBoer went with instinct selecting Boucher to take the first shot. He paid him back by scoring on a beautiful deke short side.

”I just heard a couple minutes ago (that his shootout goal snapped a drought),” Boucher expressed while admitting to early jitters prior to a sizzling finish. ”We had the lead and it was unfortunate they scored that goal at the end. I was pretty surprised (to be picked). It’s a privilege and I wanted to capitalize on my opportunity. A quick fake shot, I kind of took a step over and shot a low blocker.”

”He’s a great shooter,” Budaj said. ”I was just trying to keep my ground and win that battle. I was able to come up with the big save.”

Unfortunately, it was the only one they got past Budaj. He stopped the other two including Elias’ backhand stuff try. While he took care of the remaining Devil shooters Zajac and Elias, Lars Eller and Desharnais beat Schneider sending the Habs to an unpredictable win. Even when his team provided rare offense, Schneider was a hard luck loser. Better luck next time.