This has not been a season the New Jersey Devils will remember fondly, especially when it comes to keeping the puck out of their own net.
The Devils became synonymous with defensive hockey during a sustained period of 11 seasons in which they won three Stanley Cups, lost one Cup final, and were consistently among the NHL's elite. But with the loss of key defensemen Scott Stevens to retirement and Scott Niedermayer to free agency, the Devils' defense has sprung more than a few leaks.
New Jersey allowed 188 goals in its first 65 games this season. That's more than the Devils gave up in each of the last three complete seasons. They're on a pace to surrender more goals than in any season since 1992-93, the season before Martin Brodeur took over in goal to join Stevens and Niedermayer.
The Devils have given up goals in bigger bunches than they have in years. They surrendered six goals in back-to-back losses to the Pittsburgh Penguins and New York Islanders on March 11 and 14. It was the second time this season that the Devils were burned for a half-dozen goals in consecutive games -- they were beaten 6-2 in Pittsburgh Dec. 29 and 6-3 at home by Toronto two nights later (between then, they didn't allow more than four goals in any game). Prior to this season, they hadn't given up six goals in back-to-back contests since the first two games of 2001-02, (6-1 loss at Washington; 6-4 home loss to the Islanders).
In all, New Jersey allowed six goals six times in its first 65 games this season. Before 2005-06, the Devils had surrendered six goals a total of only four times in this century (they have yet to allow seven goals in a game in the 21st Century). New Jersey hasn't had this many six-goal games against since 1992-93, when the Devils surrendered six or more 14 times.
New Jersey has also struggled in the second game of back-to-back sets. Entering the weekend, the Devils were 3-9-1 overall in the second game of back-to-backs, and 0-9-1 in the last 10. Compare that with last season, when the Devils went 10-5-1 in second games of back-to-backs.
And though the Devils have given opponents a League-low 279 power-play opportunities in 65 games, they've been affected by the tighter officiating. The Devils gave the opposition 266 power-plays in 2003-04, the lowest total in the League. They're the only team in the NHL giving up less than five power-play opportunities a game this season, but they're still on track to allow 350 chances this season. Combine that with penalty killing that has dropped from 85.3 percent in '03-04 to 82.1 percent this season, and New Jersey has allowed 50 power-play goals, 11 more than in all of 2003-04.
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Isles' goaltender Rick DiPietro is the first goalie since the Rangers' Mike Richter in '93-94 to beat the Devils six times in a season.
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Six on the Isle -- No team has made life more miserable for the Devils than their New York-area rivals, the Islanders. The Isles bombed New Jersey 6-1 on March 14 at the Continental Airlines Arena to finish the season series with a 6-1-1 mark (two of the wins were in shootouts, as was one of New Jersey's victories). The Islanders are the first team to beat the Devils six times in a season since the New York Rangers swept all six games in 1993-94. Isles' goaltender Rick DiPietro is the first goalie since the Rangers' Mike Richter in '93-94 to beat the Devils six times in a season.
Brodeur was removed from the Islander game early in the third period after surrendering all six goals. He had also been lifted in the previous game after giving up six goals to Pittsburgh. It was the first time since Dec. 31, 1996 and Jan. 2, 1997, that Brodeur was lifted in consecutive games.
Penguin power -- How unusual was Pittsburgh's 2-0 victory over Philadelphia on March 12? Not only was it the Penguins' first shutout of the season, it was only the fourth time all season that the Pens had held an opponent scoreless through the first two periods of a game. They did it twice in a nine-day span in November, then not again until they kept Washington off the scoreboard through 40 minutes on Feb. 11. In contrast, they allowed five or six goals in the first two periods of a game nine times.
At last -- Buffalo Sabres defenseman Teppo Numminen scored his first goal of the season March 11 in Philadelphia, eliminating him from the race for most points by a player without a goal. He's left the field to Florida's Jay Bouwmeester, who has 32 assists without a goal through 65 games. Numminen had 33 assists before lighting the red light for the first time. If Bouwmeester finishes the season without scoring, he'll break an odd NHL record -- most assists without a goal. The record, 29 assists without a goal, was set 68 years ago by Toronto's Jimmy Thomson. Going goal-less wasn't unusual for Thomson, who scored just 19 times in 787 career games and had three seasons with no goals and 20 or more assists. Numminen's goal was the 112th of his career, and he's hit double digits five times in 17 NHL seasons.
Record-setting comeback -- The Dallas Stars' 2-1 victory in Vancouver March 11 was their ninth this season when trailing after two periods, tying the mark set by Toronto in 2001-02 and matched by Boston in 2002-03. But the Stars had a little help from the shootout. Three of the nine victories were shootout wins -- games that would have been ties before this season.
