New Jersey Devils vet gets monkey off his back in gutsy win

The New Jersey Devils pulled off a gutsy win against the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday night. The game was a close, back-and-forth affair with each team trading leads. In the end, it was the Devils who prevailed on a late third-period comeback. Bratt’s overtime winner was the icing on the comeback cake.

Amid the Devils’ resilient performance, one veteran player got a 400-pound monkey off his back. That veteran would be Ondrej Palat. Palat scored eight minutes into the second period to give the Devils a 2-1 lead.

Most importantly, it was Palat’s first goal of the season. He’d been scoreless in his first 14 games of the season. The goal also marked his second point of the season. The look of relief on Palat’s face was evident following his goal. It was a great way to start silencing those critics calling for him to leave the Devils’ lineup.

Here’s a look at the tally as shown on the New Jersey Devils' official X account:

Palat took a sick feed from Simon Nemec to bury the puck for the lead. While the Canadiens would come back to wrestle the lead away, the Devils didn’t give up and skated away with two points on home ice.

Devils Palat gets first goal since last April

The last time Ondrej Palat scored was on April 11 against the Pittsburgh Penguins. That was a 16-game drought for the 34-year-old. Before that, Palat scored on March 26 against the Chicago Blackhawks. So, that would have made Thursday night’s goal his third in 23 games. While Palat is not known as a top goal scorer, critics have questioned his place in the lineup.

But then again, Palat scored 15 goals in 77 games last season. That’s the sort of production the club hopes to get from Palat. Now that he’s got the monkey off his back, fans and the club hope Palat can get back into form. There’s still plenty of time for the Czech forward to come in around 15 goals and 30 points this season.

Considering the Devils are one of the top clubs in the Eastern Conference this season, they’ll need all the production they can get across the lineup.

Then again, there’s one other thing that Palat brings to the table: He’s a two-time Stanley Cup champ. He knows what it’s like to go to three straight Stanley Cup Finals. That’s the sort of intangible qualities that have a letter on his sweater and a place in a young lineup looking to make its mark on the NHL.