EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J., March 19 (UPI) -- Mathieu Garon stopped Scott Niedermayer late in overtime and got lucky seconds later Friday night as Montreal tied New Jersey, 1-1.
Niedermayer had two outstanding chances in the extra period to give the Devils their third straight win. After deking Garon in front of the net, Niedermayer put a shot into the goaltender.
Moments later, Niedermayer fired a shot off the right goalpost on an odd-man rush.
Garon, who has 14 wins in parts of four seasons, made 29 saves as the Canadiens remained two points behind the sixth-place Devils heading into Saturday's rematch at the Bell Centre.
Brodeur was trying to become the youngest 400-game winner in NHL history. But the Montreal native was beaten off a rebound by Yanic Perreault just 4:35 into the first period and moved to 25-11-5 lifetime against the Canadiens.
Jay Pandolfo scored the lone goal for New Jersey, which climbed within two points of Toronto and Ottawa for fourth place in the East.
