The Devils’ leading single-season goal-scorer left New Jersey and now he’s going places. Brian Gionta is one of the authors of the biggest story in the NHL today — the “Miracle in Montreal.”
There was rioting in the streets back in Montreal after the Canadiens ended the Penguins’ reign as Stanley Cup holders in Pittsburgh on Wednesday night. The team’s second straight seven-game victory multiplied the effect of their first-round shock upset of the top-seeded Capitals.
Now Gionta knows what winning in Montreal means.
“Crazy, man, crazy,” Gionta told The Post. “Everybody follows hockey, and when you win, everybody goes crazy.”
Gionta holds the Devils record of 48 goals in a season, set in 2005-06, but he left his first NHL team last summer for a five-year, $25 million deal with the Canadiens. Then-GM Bob Gainey was remaking the Habs, also signing Mike Cammalleri and Hal Gill and dealing for Scott Gomez — Gionta’s former teammate with the Devils — from the Rangers.
The makeover was not an immediate success. Gionta led the team with 28 goals, and the Canadiens finished as the eighth and last playoff seed in the East.
They earned a first-round series against the Caps, who finished 33 points ahead of them. Gionta said they had to turn into a team, right then, necessity proving the mother of discovery. Three weeks later, they are upset winners over the regular-season champions and the defending Stanley Cup champions. They open the Eastern Conference finals tomorrow.
Of course, it’s been a big boost to have Gionta and Gomez, who have meshed once again. In 2003, they helped lead the Devils to their third Stanley Cup.
“We’re playing as a team, a bunch of guys playing for each other, and it’s paying off,” Gionta said “We had to face Washington and then Pittsburgh, tough series, but it brought everybody together really quickly. Every team in the playoffs is good, so you might as well face those top teams and get some confidence.
“There was a lot of turnover, a lot of change, and in some ways, that makes it easier. You have a bunch of guys in the same situation, not coming into something that’s already there. Then there was a bunch of injuries, and just now we’ve come together.”
Just in time, just at the perfect time.
With seven goals and 12 points in 14 games, Gionta is second in playoff scoring for the Habs to Cammalleri (12-6-18). Each put up eight points against the Penguins to share the series lead.
They’ve inspired a mania in Montreal, where the Canadiens have not won a Stanley Cup since 1993, the longest drought in their 24-Cup history.
It’s making him forget the letdown of being left off the U.S. Olympic team. Gomez wasn’t on the team, either.
“I was disappointed about not being able to represent my country after doing so the time before. You think you could have helped, but you have to respect the decision that was made,” Gionta said. “I had a lot of friends on that team.”
Some of those friends are now out of the playoffs — including those who play in Newark — and that may be related to burnout. Gionta is still going. And going places.
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The Devils yesterday announced the signings of their last two first-round draft picks — Mattias Tedenby (2008) and Jacob Josefson (2009). Tedenby, who is expected to attend Devils camp in September, went 12-7-19 in 44 games and Josefson was 8-12-20 in 43 games with their teams in the Swedish league.
Zach Parise can become a restricted free agent after next season, not unrestricted as reported yesterday, and unrestricted the season after. The Devils face a decision now whether to commit superstar money to Parise or Ilya Kovalchuk as their top left wing.