The NHL's lowest-scoring team was shut out for the sixth time this season Friday, as the New Jersey Devils lost a costly division game 1-0 to the New York Islanders.
Related: Islanders' Halak shuts out Devils to start 7-game road trip
A win would have brought the Devils into a tie for third in the Metropolitan Division, but they instead remain a point behind the Pittsburgh Penguins - who have three games in hand on New Jersey - for the final Eastern Conference wild-card position.
"It seems like everyone's winning around us," forward Travis Zajac said, per NJ.com. "We've got to find a way to get points. We have a chance to get back at it tomorrow going into a tough building. We've played well against good teams."
Despite another stellar performance from goalie Cory Schneider, who allowed just one goal for the third time in his last four starts, the Devils' inability to score continues to haunt them; they have not scored four goals in a game since Jan. 21.
The road won't get easier for the Devils, as they'll look to avoid a third consecutive divisional loss Saturday against the league-best Washington Capitals, who they've failed to beat in their two previous meetings this season.
"It's tough. We have to bounce back after this and put a string together and get ourselves right back in the race," forward Reid Boucher added. "I think we'll bounce back."
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There's no place like home.
After dropping three straight games on the road, the Montreal Canadiens returned home and used a gutsy shootout effort to get by the Philadelphia Flyers 3-2 on Friday.
(Courtesy: NHL.com)
Despite the club's recent struggles, the win marks the fourth straight for the Canadiens at the Bell Centre, improving their home record to 16-11-2.
The club showed resilience in climbing back from a 2-1 deficit in the third period to tie the game thanks to captain Max Pacioretty's 21st goal of the season.
The shootout capped off a contest that was uneventful until the final period and an absolutely wild three-on-three overtime frame.
Related: VIDEO: Crowd emphatically cheers on Subban midgame
The victory allows the Canadiens a huge sigh of relief after headlines earlier Friday suggested defenseman P.K. Subban was on the trade market. Meanwhile, chatter around the city remained focused on the relationship between Subban and head coach Michel Therrien.
The off-ice distractions appeared to have little impact on the team's leading scorer, who collected two assists to reach 46 points on the season.
#canadiens Max Pacioretty: "PK was probably the best player on the ice tonight." #tvasports
— Renaud Lavoie (@renlavoietva) February 20, 2016
The Canadiens will take the weekend off before welcoming the Nashville Predators to town Monday, when they'll look to push their home winning streak to five games.
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It appears Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere won't go pointless the rest of the season.
The rookie defenseman threaded the needle to Michael Raffl for a tap-in goal against the Montreal Canadiens that extended his point streak to 14 games Friday.
(Courtesy: NHL.com)
The streak is now tied for the third-longest by a rookie since the 1987-88 season, and it's the longest point streak by a defenseman since Brian Leetch's 14-game run back in 1996.
Via @EliasSports: Gostisbehere's run for @NHLFlyers is tied for 3rd-longest point streak by any rookie since 1987-88 pic.twitter.com/R8K84OclHZ
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) February 20, 2016
The helper gives Gostisbehere 33 points in 39 games.
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