from Tom Gulitti of Fire & Ice,

Their playoff hopes are fading with every defeat and their losing streak is at eight games now after tonight’s ugly 5-4 loss to the Boston Bruins at Prudential Center.

With the Rangers defeating Toronto in a shootout tonight, the Devils fell four points out of a playoff spot with only eight regular season games remaining.

They’re 0-4-4 since Ilya Kovalchuk went down with a right shoulder injury in a 2-1 victory over Florida on March 23. With Kovalchuk saying today that he didn’t think he’d be back for Friday’s game against Ottawa, captain Bryce Salvador likely out with a fractured right wrist and defenseman Anton Volcehnkov facing a probable suspension, the Devils’ season is hanging by a thread.

“You know the spot you’re in and you have two choices – you roll over and die or you get up tomorrow and you find a way to turn one win into six or seven or whatever it’s going to take,” Devils coach Pete DeBoer said.

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