Devils end seven-game losing streak, hand Canadiens seventh loss in row

MONTREAL --The New Jersey Devils ended a seven-game losing streak with a 7-1 win against the Montreal Canadiens at Bell Centre on Tuesday.

Michael McLeod scored twice, Dawson Mercer, Pavel Zacha and Jesper Boqvist each had a goal and an assist, and Jon Gillies made 30 saves for New Jersey (16-26-5), which had not won since Jan. 22, 7-4 against the Carolina Hurricanes.
"We played pretty good defensively and the offense showed there tonight," Mercer said. "Our last few games we had some trouble getting goals up on the board, and finally tonight we put seven in the back of the net. So that was great for us just to get everyone a touch, get back in the feeling and hopefully carry that on to the next couple of games."
Defensemen Ryan Graves, Damon Severson and Ty Smith each had two assists.
"We've been struggling lately so it's nice to get back in the win column regardless of who you're playing or how it happens," Graves said.

Brett Kulak scored, and Cayden Primeau made 27 saves for Montreal (8-30-7), which has lost seven straight (0-5-2).
"Give Jersey a little bit of credit, they came out skating and moving pretty good," Canadiens defenseman Ben Chiarot said. "We looked like a team that's coming off the bye week. Maybe a little rusty, maybe didn't have our legs under us right at the beginning, so that's a bad combination."
The Canadiens, who had not played since Jan. 30, are 1-9-4 in their past 14. They have allowed at least six goals in three straight games, and at least seven goals in three of their past five.
"You would think after the break that you'd be refreshed and ready to go, but you guys witnessed it out there," Canadiens forward Josh Anderson said. "I feel embarrassed, to be honest with you, so we better be ready to go next game (Thursday against the Washington Capitals)."
McLeod gave New Jersey a 1-0 lead at 4:36 of the first period when he drove the net to shoot under Primeau off a rebound of Graves' point shot.
Mercer put the Devils up 2-0 at 15:31, He finished a four-way passing play with a pass from Boqvist and snapped a low shot.
Kulak drew Montreal within 2-1 at 5:54 of the second period on a shot from the point through traffic.
Nico Hischier made it 3-1 at 9:14 when he drove the left side and took a pass from Mercer before shooting over Primeau, who dove to his right.

Boqvist increased the lead to 4-1 at 18:53, and McLeod scored his second goal of the game at 19:40 to make it 5-1.
"We were fortunate on a couple of goals," Devils coach Lindy Ruff said. "I think their goalie lost his footing on Nico's goal. But you've got to have some breaks along the way. We haven't had a lot of breaks recently and I thought tonight we got some. We deserved a lot of the goals we got. We had good net-front presence, rebound goals, second opportunity goals, stuff we've been talking about, and I thought our defense and our motion inside the offensive zone really helped us."
Zacha increased the lead to 6-1 with a power-play goal at 3:19 of the third period, and Tomas Tatar scored in his first game against his former team at 9:57 for the 7-1 final.
"We've just got to get out of this funk," Anderson said. "We've got a lot of hockey games together (four in six days) and it is not fun losing right now. It's not fun coming to the rink. We have to set our mindset right right now and just regroup, to be honest with you. We've got to make hockey fun again and just refresh, throw this one out the window and come back to work next game ready to go because you just can't get embarrassed like that. It's not right, so we need everybody going next game."
NOTES: Mercer is the eighth NHL rookie to score at least 10 goals this season. … Tatar scored 149 points (57 goals, 92 assists) in 198 games the past three seasons with Montreal. He signed a two-year contract with New Jersey on Aug. 5. … The Devils, who lost at the Ottawa Senators 4-1 on Monday, were outscored 30-12 in the losing streak. … Devils center Jack Hughes (NHL COVID-19 protocol) missed his second straight game after returning from the 2022 Honda NHL All-Star Game in Las Vegas on Sunday. … The Canadiens have been outscored 40-17 in their skid.