MONTREAL — Alex Galchenyuk scored midway through the third period to help the Canadiens beat the Devils 3-2 on Monday night.
Rene Bourque and Max Pacioretty also scored for the Canadiens (16-9-3). Carey Price made 27 saves.
Steve Bernier and Michael Ryder scored for the Devils (11-12-5), and Martin Brodeur stopped 13 shots.
It was New Jersey’s first regulation loss at the Bell Centre since 2008.
Ryder tied it at 2-2 with a slap shot that got past Price at 4:42 in the third. But Galchenyuk responded five minutes later, picking up his seventh goal after Alexei Emelin’s shot landed on his stick.
Sustained pressure by the Devils in the Canadiens’ zone led to Bernier’s second goal in as many games, putting New Jersey in front at 11:13 of the first period. The Quebec City native was left all alone in front of the net and beat Price on his blocker side by deflecting an Anton Volchenkov shot from the point.
The Canadiens tied it at 8:49 of the second when David Desharnais made a no-look, behind-the-back pass to Bourque, who scored his sixth goal.
With Dainius Zubrus in the box for interference, Pacioretty made it 2-1 with a power-play score at 16:49 off a cross-ice pass from Andrei Markov.
The game was the first of a home-and-home series against the Devils. The teams face off again on Wednesday in Newark.