Stuart Skinner isn’t here to save the Pittsburgh Penguins’ season.

They just need their new goaltender to make some saves. And winning some games would be nice, too.

Of course, seeing some of his teammates score goals would aid the Penguins’ cause as well.

On Saturday, the Penguins were defeated by the Montreal Canadiens, 4-0, at Montreal’s Bell Centre. It marked the second consecutive shutout of the Penguins, who were blanked by the host Ottawa Senators on Thursday, 4-0.

Special teams favored the Canadiens on Saturday as they scored on their only power-play opportunity. In contrast, the Penguins were 0 for 3 with their power play and even allowed a short-handed goal.

The result extended a losing streak to eight games (0-4-4) for the Penguins, who have not won since a 4-3 road victory against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Dec. 4.

It has been nearly two decades since the Penguins last had a losing streak this long. Between Jan. 6 and 23, 2006, the Penguins dropped 10 consecutive games (0-10-0) when forward Sidney Crosby was a rookie.

Acquired in a trade with the Edmonton Oilers on Dec. 12, Skinner stopped 17 of 20 shots as his record fell to 11-10-4.

“He battled there,” Penguins coach Dan Muse said to reporters in Montreal via audio provided by the team’s media relations department. “And that’s what’s expected of him.”

Skinner joined the Penguins when they were merely knee deep into their slump. Despite those doldrums, he lauded the atmosphere fostered by his new teammates.

“The leadership in here is fantastic,” Skinner said at PPG Paints Arena on Tuesday. “And I saw that coming in day one. Very impressed with the group — even though that we are on a slide — we’re keeping things light and we’re working ourselves out of this thing.”

Crosby remained at 1,722 career points, one short of Mario Lemieux’s franchise mark of 1,723.

Canadiens forward Juraj Slafkovsky opened the scoring 16:41 into regulation with his 10th goal of the season during a power-play sequence.

Settling a bouncing puck near the left corner of the offensive zone, Canadiens forward Cole Caufield backhanded a pass to the upper left hashmark where Slafkovsky stroked a wrister past Skinner’s blocker. Caufield and forward Nick Suzuki had assists.

The hosts doubled their lead when rookie forward Owen Beck scored his first career goal at 18:48 of the first period.

Following a turnover in Montreal’s zone by Penguins forward Rickard Rakell, Canadiens defenseman Lane Hutson banked the puck off the right boards to forward Brendan Gallagher, who immediately offloaded the puck to Beck. Bursting into the Penguins’ offensive zone on the left wing like a jackrabbit, Beck sped past stumbling Penguins defenseman Parker Wotherspoon and fired a wrister from the near circle to the far side, beating Skinner’s glove. Assists were generated by Gallagher and Hutson.

Canadiens forward Josh Anderson scored his seventh goal while short-handed at 12:14 of the second period.

From the right corner of the offensive zone, Penguins forward Bryan Rust forced a careless pass to the near hashmarks that was happily accepted by Canadiens rookie forward Oliver Kapanen, who then proceeded to chip the puck to the neutral zone. Anderson raced past Crosby and generated a breakaway. Upon arrival at the Penguins’ crease, Anderson scorched Skinner’s glove with a wrister. The lone assist was claimed by Kapanen.

That was the fifth short-handed score the Penguins have allowed this season. Entering the day, only the New York Rangers (six) had yielded more among the NHL’s 32 member clubs.

Anderson capped the scoring at 17:02 on an empty net. There were no assists.

Canadiens rookie goaltender Jacob Fowler, a former star with the United States Hockey League’s Youngstown Phantoms, stopped 31 shots to earn his first career shutout as his record improved to 2-1-1.

The Penguins host the Canadiens on Sunday shortly after 7 p.m.

“We’re playing these guys (Sunday),” Penguins forward Anthony Mantha said. “We need to turn the page real quick.”

Notes:

• The Penguins have not been shut out in consecutive games since the 2009-10 season.

On Nov. 7, 2009, they were beaten by the San Jose Sharks, 5-0, at HP Pavilion in San Jose. Goaltender Evgeni Nabokov made 27 saves for the Sharks.

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Then on Nov. 10, the Boston Bruins claimed a 3-0 home win at TD Garden. Goaltender Tim Thomas made 27 saves in the victory.

• The Canadiens went more than nine years since their most recent regular season shutout of the Penguins. In a 4-0 home win on Oct. 18, 2016, goaltender Al Montoya made 36 saves.

• Fowler’s only other win came in his NHL debut, and it happened to be the third game of the Penguins’ ongoing losing streak. Fowler made 36 saves on 38 shots in a 4-2 win at PPG Paints Arena on Dec. 11.

• Penguins defenseman Connor Clifton and rookie forward Ville Koivunen returned to the lineup after being healthy scratches for two games.

• Penguins defensemen Ryan Graves and Jack St. Ivany, as well as forward Danton Heinen, were healthy scratches.

• Penguins forward Rickard Rakell opened the contest deployed as the second-line center. Before Saturday, he had started 11 games this season on the left wing and two games at right wing.

• Hutson recorded his 100th career point.

• The NHL’s roster freeze went into effect at 11:59 p.m. Friday and will last until Dec. 28. During that time, teams are not permitted to make trades, utilize waivers or assign players to a minor league affiliate. Exceptions apply for recalls related to emergency roster conditions.

• Canadiens forward Phillip Danault was a healthy scratch after being acquired in a trade with the Los Angeles Kings late Friday night.