Devils Snap Canadiens 8-Game Win Streak

 

Photo: Andrew MacLean

After taking a 4-3 shootout loss to the Canadiens on Saturday, the Devils bounced back, shutting out Montreal 3-0 at Bell Centre on Sunday. Jacob Markstrom was a wall in the net, stopping all 18 shots to earn his 25th NHL shutout. Cody Glass, Connor Brown, and Timo Meier each found the back of the net for New Jersey, and Jack Hughes had a two-point night, collecting a pair of assists. Montreal's eight-game winning streak was its longest winning streak since a run of nine wins straight in 2015 from October 7-24. The Devils are back at the Prudential Center on Tuesday to host the Philadelphia Flyers, while the Canadiens take on the Florida Panthers.

New Jersey Devils Lineup:

Meier - Hischier - Mercer

Bratt - Hughes - Brown

Hameenaho - Glass - Bjugstad

Cotter - McLaughlin - Halonen

Siegenthaler - Hamilton

Hughes - Kovacevic

Dillon - Nemec

Markstrom

Allen

Montreal Canadiens Lineup:

Caufield - Suzuki - Slafkovsky

Newhook - Kapanen - Demidov

Bolduc - Evans - Anderson

Veleno - Danault - Gallagher

Matheson - Dobson

Guhle - Xhekaj

Struble - Hutson

Fowler

Dobes

Timo Meier opened the scoring with 9:13 on the clock in the first period after he turned around to hand the puck over to Jack Hughes from near the right wall before Hughes carried the puck into the left circle, his shot trickled through the pads of Jacob Fowler, and Timo Meier was in front to poke the rebound over the goal line to get the Devils a 1-0 lead. This was Meier's 24th goal of the season.

Late in the middle frame, with only 1:48 to go, Cody Glass made it 2-0 when he picked up the puck in the neutral zone, splitting the defense, skated into the right circle, and snapped a shot through Fowler's five-hole, recording his 17th goal of the season.

Connor Brown took a pass from J. Hughes, who got the puck from Jesper Bratt, and shot into an empty Montreal net for the 3-0 final with 3:25 left to play in the third period. This was Brown's 17th goal of the season.

Notes:

- With their victory against the Canadiens, the Devils won their 11th consecutive road game in Montreal, which is the longest active run in the NHL against a single opponent. Montreal hasn't defeated New Jersey at the Bell Centre since Tomas Plekanec scored the overtime winner in a 2-1 win on December 14th, 2017.

- This was Jacob Markstrom's first shutout since April 5th, 2025.

- After recording his first of two assists in this game, Jack Hughes has an NHL-best 35 points since scoring the "Golden Goal" at the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026, including a League-high eight points in April so far. ...With his second assist, Hughes has 122 career multi-point games, overtaking Jesper Bratt (121) for sole possession of the fourth most in Devils franchise history. He also overtook Aaron Broten (62) on the club's career multi-assist games list with 63. ...Hughes has nine points (three goals, six assists) during a three-point streak, and in his past five games, he has 13 points (five goals, eight assists).

- On February 8th at Bell Centre, Jake Allen posted a shutout, and after Marktrom's performance on Sunday, this is the second time the Devils have recorded shutouts in consecutive visits to Montreal. It's also the first time since 2000-01 when they did so on February 6th, 2001, and April 7th, 2001 (both by Martin Brodeur).

- Jacob Fowler made a total of 17 saves for the Montreal Canadiens.

- Prior to the game, the Canadiens clinched a berth in the Stanley Cup Playoffs for a second straight season when the Detroit Red Wings took a 5-4 loss against the Minnesota Wild.

- Devils: 40-34-3, Canadiens: 45-22-10