Montreal and New Jersey engaged in a miniature home-and-home series on back-to-back nights this weekend. Bud Holloway received his first taste of NHL action on Friday night against the New Jersey Devils, while Christian Thomas was plugged into the lineup against the Devils on Saturday night. Both teams earned 3 points in the 2 games played.

Friday in New Jersey

Michel Therrien put Bud Holloway’s line out there to start the game in New Jersey, which was a nice tip of the hat by the Canadiens Head Coach. Holloway played 7:19 in his first ever NHL game, which was sort of expected playing on the fourth line alongside Flynn and Byron. Holloway did not receive a shift in the final ten minutes of the game, nor did he make it onto the ice for the overtime session, but this is somewhat understandable as the game got tighter as the third period progressed along. Overall, Holloway had a decent night. By the third period Therrien had tossed his lines in the blender as centreman Alex Galchenyuk was playing wing on the top line with Tomas Plekanec and Max Pacioretty. Eller, Byron, and Flynn were grouped together for some time, and the Desharnais line remained constant. Youngster Sven Andrighetto seems to have earned Michel Therrien’s trust for the time being as he was sent out for two shifts in the overtime period. Andrighetto scored a goal in the second period and eventually scored the game-winning shootout goal for Montreal. Here’s his shootout winner:

Saturday in Montreal

New Jersey Devils goalie Corey Schneider (Tom Turk/THW)

On Saturday, fans at the Bell Centre were treated to Christian Thomas’ first NHL game of the season, as Bud Holloway took a seat for the night. Interestingly, both Schneider and Condon started on both nights even though the games were on back-to-back nights. Cory Schneider seems to enjoy playing on back-to-back nights though, stating earlier this year that he believes it allows him to keep his rhythm. Schneider even admitted that he wouldn’t mind starting all 82 games of the regular season for the Devils. He got the best of Mike Condon on Saturday at the Bell Centre. Christian Thomas had an okay night in his season debut, playing just over 9 minutes with 3 shots on goal. The former second round pick played 18 games for the Canadiens last season and has 14 points in 18 games for the St. John’s Ice Caps so far this season. Here’s a goal scored by Christian Thomas from earlier this season, while playing for the Ice Caps:

A Deal With The Devils

The split home-and-home series with the Devils wraps up November for the Canadiens, as the Habs are now off until December 1^st, when they will host the Columbus Blue Jackets at the Bell Centre.