Theodore finally got a night off and watched Stephane Fiset struggle in his first NHL game in nearly 16 months as the Montreal Canadiens had a seven-game winning streak snapped by the equally hot New Jersey Devils, 5-2.
Theodore almost singlehandedly backstopped the Canadiens to their first playoff berth in four years, going 9-4-4 while making 17 consecutive starts. But he got his first rest since February 27, and Montreal sputtered.
Acquired from Los Angeles at the trade deadline, Fiset made his first start since December 22, 2000 but surrendered goals to five different players.
Patrick Traverse stops a lunging Scott Stevens in a 5-2 Habs loss.(AP Photo)
The Devils broke it open with a three-goal second period as Petr Sykora got the go-ahead tally at the one-minute mark, defenceman Scott Stevens ended an 88-game drought and Valeri Kamensky scored 41 seconds later to make it 4-1.
Patrik Elias and John Madden had the other goals for New Jersey, which has won five straight and is 13-3-0-1 in its last 17 games. The Devils remained one point behind the sixth-place New York Islanders with one game to play.
Three nights after his emotional return, Saku Koivu picked up a pair of assists for the Canadiens, who also rested regulars Doug Gilmour, Oleg Petrov, Patrice Brisebois and Stephane Quintal.
