NEWARK - The New Jersey Devils came back from 2-0 and 3-1 deficits to defeat the Canadiens 5-3 Thursday night at the Prudential Centre. Zach Parise’s second goal of the night snapped a 3-3 tie at 17:16 of the third period and David Clarkson scored his second goal of the night into an empty net. Dainius Zubrus scored the other New Jersey goal. David Desharnais, Andrei Kostitsyn and Mathieu Darche scored for the Canadiens.

Here’s the bad news: At the start of the week, the Canadiens were eight points out of a playoff spot; they are now 11 back of the eighth-place Toronto Maple Leafs. With the win, the Devils moved into seventh place in the East, 12 points up on Montreal.

Bourque lends a hand: Desharnais was credited with the first Montreal goal and, while he deserves credit for creating traffic in front, it was Rene Bourque who did the heavy lifting on the play. He took the puck from behind the net and tested Martin Brodeur with a backhander. He had another swipe at the puck before his shot caromed off Desharnais.

Return of the native: Louis Leblanc saw limited playing time after being recalled from Hamilton, but he picked up an assist on the Canadiens’ second goal by Kostitsyn. Leblanc chipped the puck off the boards to enter the Devils’ zone and then passed back to Yannick Weber, who found Kostitsyn alone in front.

Killer move: The Canadiens’ penalty-killing unit broke even on the night. The Devils went 1-for-4 with the extra man as Clarkson redirected a shot by Ilya Kovalchuk to close the gap to 3-2 at 13:43 of the second period. Montreal had taken a 3-1 lead at 1:35 of the second period. Darche tapped in a rebound for a shorthanded goal after Brodeur stopped Tomas Plekanec on a breakaway. As usual, the Canadiens’ power play went 0-for-3.

No excuses: It’s safe to say goaltender Carey Price would like to have the Devils’ first goal back. Parise’s harmless-looking shot from the left wing managed to find a way into the net under Price’s right pad. Price almost gave another one away early in the second period. He stopped Kovalchuk on a partial breakaway and thought that he had trapped the puck under his pads. But Kovalchuk spotted the puck lying on the goal line and tried to push it into the net while Price was trying to cover the puck with his glove. Kovalchuk felt he scored, but the replay failed to show the puck clearly across the line.

What’s next: The Canadiens are home for the traditional Super Bowl weekend matinees and they have another chance to close the gap on teams that are ahead of them in the standings. The Washington Capitals are on tap Saturday and they currently occupy ninth place in the East with a nine-point edge on the Canadiens. On Sunday, it’s the Winnipeg Jets, who are 10th in the East. After years of 3 p.m. starts for the Sunday game, both games are scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. which will allow fans to get home in time to watch the start of the Super Bowl.

phickey@montrealgazette.com

Read Mike Boone's game blog at Hockey Inside/Out