Schwei: Jagr's 700th, Scoring From Defensemen And More Devils Notes

By John Schweibacher
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The New Jersey Devils came out of the Olympic break with a pair of wins, defeating Columbus and the New York Islanders, before losing to San Jose Sunday.

Jaromir Jagr scored the 700th goal of his NHL career in New Jersey's 6-1 win over the Islanders Saturday afternoon, becoming just the seventh player in NHL history to reach that plateau.

The Elias Sports Bureau notes that the Islanders and Nassau Coliseum were also the opposing team and venue for two other players' 700th goals: Marcel Dionne's (in 1987) and Wayne Gretzky's (in 1991).

The goaltender that Jagr beat for his 700th goal, Evgeni Nabokov, was also the opposing netminder the last time an NHL player scored career-goal number 700 -- Brett Hull on February 10, 2003 against San Jose.

Here is the list of the players who have scored 700 NHL goals, and the details of the milestones.

· Jaromir Jagr: 3/1/14 -- NJ Devils at NY Islanders (Evgeni Nabokov)

· Brett Hull: 2/10/03 -- Detroit vs. San Jose (Evgeni Nabokov)

· Mike Gartner: 12/14/97 -- Phoenix vs. Detroit (Chris Osgood)

· Wayne Gretzky: 1/3/91 -- L.A. Kings at NY Islanders (Glenn Healy)

· Marcel Dionne: 10/31/87 -- NY Rangers at NY Islanders (Kelly Hrudey)

· Phil Esposito: 2/2/1980 -- NY Rangers at Washington (Wayne Stephenson)

· Gordie Howe: 1/5/67 -- Detroit vs. Chicago (Denis DeJordy)

Marek Zidlicky, Mark Fayne and Eric Gelinas each scored a goal for New Jersey in the 6-1 win over the Islanders. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, it was only the second time in the last 20 seasons that three Devils defensemen scored goals in the same game. The only other time it happened since 1993 was in a 6-1 win over the Hurricanes on February 9, 2008. Paul Martin scored two goals for New Jersey in that game and Colin White and Johnny Oduya each scored once.

Adam Henrique scored a pair of goals, one on a power play and one shorthanded, to help lead the Devils to a 5-2 win over the Blue Jackets last Thursday. It was Henrique's third career two-goal game, his first since March 13, 2013 vs. Philadelphia.

Henrique's shorthanded goal was the eighth of his career and second shorthanded goal of 2013-14. Henrique's eight shorthanded goals since the start of the 2011-12 season are the most in the NHL. Former Devil Ilya Kovalchuk, Cal Clutterbuck and Brad Marchand are tied for second with seven each.

According to the Player Game Finder on Hockey-Reference.com, it was the ninth time in the last 25 years that a New Jersey Devils player recorded a power-play goal and a shorthanded goal in the same game:

· Adam Henrique: 2/28/14 vs. Columbus

· John Madden: 12/16/07 vs. Philadelphia

· Jamie Langenbrunner: 11/15/02 vs. Montreal

· Alexander Semak: 10/16/93 at NY Islanders

· Stephane Richer: 4/7/93 vs. NY Rangers

· Peter Stastny: 12/29/91 vs. Washington

· John MacLean: 2/25/91 vs. Washington

· John MacLean: 12/20/90 vs. at Philadelphia

· Kirk Muller: 3/17/89 vs. Philadelphia

*The only Devils player to score both a power-play goal and a shorthanded goal in the same postseason game was Bernie Nicholls, back on May 23, 1994 in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the New York Rangers. Watch the two goals below.

Last week, this story detailed how the New York Knicks are in danger of suffering their worst single-season drop-off in winning percentage in club history. Here are the worst collapses, record-wise, from one season to another among all nine of the local teams in the NHL, NBA, NFL and MLB.

·New Jersey Devils: 2009-10 .628; 2010-11 .494 (-.134)

·New York Mets: 1976 .531; 1977 .395 (-.136)

·New York Yankees*: 1924 .586; 1925 .448 (-.138)

·New York Islanders: 1987-88 .550; 1988-89 .381 (-.169)

·New York Knicks: 1983-84 .573; 1984-85 .293 (-.280)

·New York Rangers: 1941-42 .625; 1942-43 .300 (-.325)

·Brooklyn Nets*: 1975-76 .655; 1976-77 .268 (-.387)

·New York Jets: 1969 .714; 1970 .286 (-.428)

·New York Giants: 1963 .786; 1964 .167 (-.619)

*The Yankees' totals begin with 1913, the first season they were known as the Yankees. The Brooklyn Nets totals include their seasons in the ABA.

Schwei's Plus/Minus:

Plus: Won One --  Martin Brodeur made 18 saves in the 6-1 victory over the Islanders to register his first win since January 14 at Montreal. Brodeur has played in just six of New Jersey's 21 games since turning the calendar to 2014.

Minus: Two and Done -- The Devils' loss to San Jose ended a 2-game winning streak. New Jersey has won three in a row just once this season, having won two straight eight other times in 2013-14.

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