Devils end Canadiens' 8-game winning streak with shutout

MONTREAL -- Jacob Markstrom made 18 saves for his 25th NHL shutout, and the New Jersey Devils ended the Montreal Canadiens' eight-game winning streak with a 3-0 victory at Bell Centre on Sunday.

The shutout was Markstrom's first since April 5, 2025.

“It was a great team game,” Markstrom said. “Huge blocks, good 'PK,' good forecheck. We didn’t give them much space. A lot on the outside or behind our net, and no pass out, really. It was a great team effort and this is how it is supposed to look, especially at this time of year. Even if we don’t have the playoffs around the corner, Montreal (does) and it’s big points.”

Timo Meier, Cody Glass and Connor Brown scored, and Jack Hughes had two assists for New Jersey (40-34-3), which lost 4-3 in a shootout to Montreal in the first game of the home-and-home on Saturday.

The Devils are seven points behind the Ottawa Senators for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference.

“I just thought our commitment tonight was exceptional all the way through,” New Jersey coach Sheldon Keefe said. “We had met this morning and talked about a few little things defensively that we thought we could do better yesterday. Not only were we better from a structure standpoint, we just did everything just a little bit harder in every single area.”

Jacob Fowler made 17 saves for the Canadiens (45-22-10), who clinched a berth in the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the second straight season prior to the game when the Detroit Red Wings lost 5-4 to the Minnesota Wild.

“You wake up from your nap and you’ve clinched your spot,” Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis said. “We didn’t have our fastball tonight, but it’s not like we didn’t play well. Our execution was off, but we had good structure.”

Montreal, which had not lost since March 19, had been on its longest winning streak since a run of nine straight wins from Oct. 7-24, 2015.

“Coming to the rink, everyone was in a pretty good mood,” Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki said. “Our goal ever since we started camp was to get back in the playoffs, and we’ve secured that. But we’ve got big games ahead to try to get home ice and possibly first in the division.”

Montreal is tied with the Buffalo Sabres for second in the Atlantic Division with 100 points, two behind the Tampa Bay Lightning. Buffalo owns the tiebreaker with Montreal.

“It’s definitely a different feeling from last year when you’re going down to the last game just to try to get into the playoffs,” Montreal forward Josh Anderson said. “But by no means do you want to take your foot off the gas. We’ve still got something to prove, and we’re fighting for home ice, so every game is important.”

Canadiens forward Cole Caufield, who has 49 goals this season, was held off the score sheet in his bid to become Montreal’s first 50-goal scorer since Stephane Richer scored 51 in 1989-90.

“Every time he was on the ice, the fans started to cheer, so you can’t really hide it out there,” Markstrom said. “They were obviously looking for him a lot. Not only is he looking for his 50th, but if he’s looking for his first of the year he’s still a dangerous shooter and a dangerous player.”

Meier put the Devils up 1-0 at 10:47 of the first period. Hughes' shot from the left dot trickled through Fowler's pads, and Meier poked the rebound over the goal line.

Glass pushed the Devils' lead to 2-0 at 18:12 of the second period. He gathered the puck in the neutral zone, split the defense, and snapped a shot from the right circle through Fowler's five-hole.

“I finally got a puck with speed and just kind of saw an opening,” Glass said.

Hughes got his second assist when Brown shot into an empty net with 3:25 remaining for the 3-0 final. The New Jersey center has nine points (three goals, six assists) during a three-game point streak, and 13 points (five goals, eight assists) in his past five games.

NOTES: The Devils have won 11 straight road games in Montreal, the longest road streak against the Canadiens in NHL history. … It was Hughes’ 122nd multipoint game, which moved him ahead of teammate Jesper Bratt for sole possession of fourth place in franchise history.