Vitek Vanecek made 27 saves, and Jack Hughes earned four assists.

The New Jersey Devils earned their third victory of the 2023-24 campaign with a 5-2 win over the Montreal Canadiens. Tyler Toffoli scored a hat trick against his former team, and Jack Hughes earned his fourth multi-point game of the season.

For the fifth consecutive game, the Devils conceded the first goal. Canadiens' defenseman Justin Barron buried his second goal of the season 5:49 into the opening frame. Before the end of the first, Alex Holtz tied the game, scoring on a rebound. It was the Swede's first goal of the 2023-24 campaign.

As the game went on, Tyler Toffoli and Jack Hughes would take center stage. Toffoli lit the lamp in his second straight game and has now collected six points (four goals, two assists) in five games. For the second consecutive game, Hughes found himself celebrating a four-point night. He assisted on all three of Toffoli's goals and was credited with the primary assist on Nico Hischier's first goal of the season.

The Devils conceded a power play goal in the third period when Mike Matheson skated an end-to-end rush in the third period. By the final horn, New Jersey scored twice on the man advantage for a total of 11 goals in 25 chances (44 percent) this season.

"We just find ways to stick with it," Toffoli said. "We score big goals (and) have great momentum with our power play. It's going a long way for us."

Five Things

1. Tyler Toffoli Nets His Fifth Career Hat Trick 

It took five games for Toffoli to score his first hat trick in a Devils uniform. It was the first time he celebrated three goals since Jan. 20, 2021, when he played for the Canadiens. His first goal came at even strength at the end of the second period; the second was on the power play in the third, and an empty-net goal with less than a minute left in the third completed the hat trick. 

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sG-AEeHudTo[/embed]

"I was joking with [J. Hughes] after the game, saying that we didn't do a lot in the first, that we were both frustrated," Toffoli said. "Obviously, we laughed it off, but the way that he can just take over a game and just make small little plays and back guys off it, it makes the game so much easier for myself and everybody on the team."

2. Jack Hughes

For the second consecutive game, the first-overall pick collected four points. It marked the first time in his career that Hughes earned four assists in a single game. It tied his career-high four points in a game, which he last earned on Oct. 20, 2023, at NY Islanders (two goals, two assists).

Per NHL Pr: Jack Hughes collected his 127th career assist and surpassed Brendan Shanahan (126) for the fourth most by a player age 22 or younger in franchise history. The list is topped by Kirk Muller (210), Scott Gomez (152) and Wilf Paiement (131)."

Currently, Hughes and Detroit Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin are tied for the most points in the NHL (14) and assists (10).

3. Lindy Ruff Passes Doug Carpenter

With the team's victory over Montreal, head coach Lindy Ruff earned his 101st career win with New Jersey, passing Doug Carpenter for fourth place all-time in franchise history. He needs 13 more wins to tie Peter Deboer (114).

4. Alex Holtz Scores His First of the Season

As New Jersey's power play expired, Alex Holtz scored his first goal of the season off a rebound. Timo Meier and Dougie Hamilton collected the assists.

"It's always nice to put the puck in the net, so it was good to get the boys going a little bit and get one goal," he said.

5. Michael McLeod and Erik Haula Dominated the Face-off Circle

After 40 minutes of play, fourth-line center Michael McLeod was a perfect eight-for-eight in the face-off circle, while Haula was five-for-five. By the end of the game, McLeod led all skaters with 13 face-off wins for a face-off win percentage of 86.7. Haula would finish winning seven out of nine (77.8 percent).