MONTREAL (AP) -- Jose Theodore and the Montreal Canadiens let yet another point slip away.

The Montreal goalie failed to stop Randy McKay's deflection with 20.9 seconds remaining as the New Jersey Devils beat the Canadiens 2-1 on Thursday night.

	Devils goalie Martin Brodeur gets a visit from teammate Lyle Odelein as he denies Montreal's Jim Cummins on Thursday night.

"We fought through the whole game to get to a point where we could at least go into overtime and get one," Theodore said. "To lose those points with 20 seconds left -- it's hard to lose that way."

McKay tipped Bobby Holik's shot past Theodore to help the Devils improve to 4-1 in their last five games. Montreal is last in the Northeast Division at 11-19-2.

"The only time we got in trouble tonight was when we fooled around in our own zone, wanting to make plays that weren't there," Montreal coach Vigneault said.

"Other than that, we played within our system just like they did. We worked just as hard along the boards. They had more shots, but the chances were really close."

Devils goalie Martin Brodeur made 17 saves, and Theodore stopped 30 shots for the Canadiens.

"He played really well," Brodeur said of Theodore. "He was solid the whole game. He made some great saves. After we scored our first goal, he made some big saves that allowed them a chance to come back."

Montreal's Craig Darby opened the scoring with a shorthanded goal at 9:38 of the first period, and New Jersey's Jay Pandolfo tied it 47 seconds into the second.

Montreal, missing eight regulars because of injuries, is 0-4-1 in its last five games at the Molson Centre. Montreal's last home victory was a 2-1 decision over Vancouver on Nov. 27.

The Canadiens are winless in six games against New Jersey since a 4-2 home victory on March 14, 1998.