NEWARK, N.J. (AP) -- The New Jersey Devils shook off a sluggish
start and an early two-goal hole to stay perfect since the All
Star break.



Zach Parise scored two goals, including the go-ahead tally with
2:44 remaining, and the Devils beat the Montreal Canadiens 5-3
on Thursday night. It was a satisfying follow-up to their
comeback shootout win over the New York Rangers on Tuesday.



David Clarkson also scored twice, including an empty-netter in
the final seconds. Dainius Zubrus added a goal, and Ilya
Kovalchuk had three assists for the Devils. Martin Brodeur made
27 saves.



David Desharnais, Andrei Kostitsyn and Mathieu Darche scored for
Montreal, which had 18 saves from Carey Price.



Parise's second goal gave the Devils their first lead. He
deflected Kovalchuk's shot past Price to break a 3-3 tie, and
Clarkson finished the scoring for the Devils, who had trailed
2-0 and 3-1.



It started badly for New Jersey as Desharnais and Kostitsyn
staked Montreal to a 2-0 lead in the first period.



Rene Bourque had multiple swipes at the puck deep in the Devils
zone before flipping a shot that glanced in off Desharnais at
4:11. Kostitsyn, alone in the slot, spun and put the rebound of
Yannick Weber's point shot past Brodeur at 9:23.



The Devils were being badly outplayed, prompting coach Pete
DeBoer to use his timeout to settle his team.



"On the bench, we never felt we were out of the game," DeBoer
said. "It was a good feeling that there was a lot of hockey left
and that we could climb back in."



It started with Parise's first goal at 10:36 of the first,
cutting New Jersey's deficit to 2-1. Skating down the left wing,
Parise fired a long-range shot from the circle that slipped
under Price's right leg.



"It's a good thing when you respond," Parise said. "You find
yourself right back in the game. I was just trying to get it on
net."



The Devils came close to getting even 52 seconds into the second
period when Kovalchuk fired a shot that Price partially blocked.
The puck trickled behind him, and the referees ruled it didn't
completely cross the goal line. The call was upheld by a video
review.



Seconds later, Raphael Diaz was whistled for interference,
giving the Devils a power play. However, Darche scored a
short-handed goal at 1:25 to give Montreal a 3-1 lead. The goal
was set up by a breakaway by Tomas Plekanec that Brodeur foiled
with a sprawling save, but Darche put in the rebound.



New Jersey has allowed an NHL-worst 13 short-handed goals.



The Devils had a video review go their way on the power-play
goal by Clarkson that made it 3-2. Kovalchuk fired a point shot
that hit a Montreal defender in the leg before glancing in off
Clarkson's skate at 13:43. The review confirmed that Clarkson
didn't kick the puck into the net, giving him a career high 18
goals this season.



New Jersey pulled even at 6:11 of the third as Zubrus deflected
in Alexei Ponikarovsky's shot from the right circle.



The loss was another tough outing for the Canadiens, who have
lost both games since the All-Star break and are languishing
near the bottom of the Eastern Conference.



"It's tough to swallow," Montreal coach Randy Cunneyworth said.
"We battled, worked hard. I liked our start. We responded the
way the way we wanted. We deserved a better outcome. The first
thing is effort. They responded tonight."



NOTES: Montreal RW Mike Blunden was forced out of the game by an
undisclosed lower body injury. ... Desharnais played in his
100th game with the Canadiens. ... D Bryce Salvador was in the
Devils lineup despite a leg injury that made his status
questionable. Because of Salvador's uncertain status, New Jersey
had seven defensemen in the lineup. ... C Adam Henrique (groin
injury), Brad Mills and Cam Janssen were scratched by the
Devils. Montreal scratched C Petteri Nokelainen, D Chris
Campoli, LW Travis Moen (upper body) and C Ryan White. ... P.K.
Subban laid out Devils rookie defenseman Adam Larson with a big
shoulder check with six minutes remaining in the third. Larson
was face down on the ice for over a minute before slowly getting
to his skates and being helped to the locker room. DeBoer said
he "thought it was a clean hit." The Devils said the injury was
a lower back bruise. ... Montreal had won four straight in New
Jersey.