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Schwei's Devils Notebook: Little-Known Facts, Odd Stats And Strange Records

By John Schweibacher
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The New Jersey Devils are hitting the road for their next three games after winning two of three at Prudential Center this past week, improving their record on home ice to 13-4-4 over their last 21 games at The Rock.

Adam Henrique scored a pair of goals in the Devils' 5-2 win over the Flyers Sunday. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Henrique -- who now has scored eight goals (in 12 games) against the Flyers over the last three seasons -- has the most goals by any player vs. Philadelphia since the start of the 2012-13 season. (Rick Nash, Steven Stamkos and John Tavares are tied for second with seven goals each.)

Keith Kinkaid, who made 25 saves in the victory for New Jersey, is the first Devils rookie to win a game against the Flyers since November 1, 1988, when Sean Burke beat Philadelphia, 3-2, at the Meadowlands.

Elias notes that Martin Brodeur lost his only game against the Flyers as a rookie in his third career game, a relief appearance at the Spectrum on March 29, 1992.

The Devils lost to the Blue Jackets, 3-2, Friday night at Prudential Center. Brandon Dubinsky scored one goal and assisted on another as the Blue Jackets ended their seven-game winless streak.

Dubinsky has scored more goals against New Jersey (13) than he has against any other team. Here are the active players with the most career regular-season goals vs. the Devils:

· Jaromir Jagr: 35

· Sidney Crosby: 24

· Marian Hossa: 19

· Joe Thornton: 19

· Martin St. Louis: 19

· Vinny Lecavalier: 18

· Alex Ovechkin: 17

· Evgeni Malkin: 17

· Daniel Briere: 14

· Steven Stamkos: 13

· Brandon Dubinsky: 13

Marek Zidlicky, playing in his first game for the Red Wings since they acquired him in a deadline-day trade with the Devils, scored the overtime goal which gave Detroit a 2-1 win over the New York Rangers last Wednesday night at Joe Louis Arena.

Zidlicky -- who, according to the Elias Sports Bureau, was the first player in Red Wings history to score an overtime goal in his first game with the team -- joined Brian Rafalski as the only players to score overtime goals for both Detroit and New Jersey. Rafalski had two career regular season sudden-death goals for the Devils.

Zidlicky was acquired by New Jersey from Minnesota back on February 24, 2012. He played in all but one game for the Devils until he was dealt to Detroit last Monday, appearing in 214 of a possible 215 regular-season contests.

Only one other New Jersey player appeared in as many games as Zidlicky during his Devils stint, from February 26, 2012 through February 28, 2015:

· Marek Zidlicky: 214 of 215

· Andy Greene: 214 of 215

· Adam Henrique: 197 of 215

· Steve Bernier: 191 of 215

· Travis Zajac: 188 of 215

· Patrik Elias: 186 of 215

· Dainius Zubrus: 181 of 215

New Jersey topped Nashville, 3-1, last Tuesday night at Prudential Center.

The Devils led 2-0 before the game was four minutes old, thanks to goals by defensemen Adam Larsson (58 seconds after the opening faceoff) and Eric Gelinas (at 3:57).

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, it was the first time in franchise history that the Scouts, Rockies or Devils got two goals from defensemen in the first four minutes of a game. Elias also notes that it was just the second time in the last six seasons that New Jersey managed to score twice in the opening four minutes of a game, regardless of the positions played by the goal scorers.

The only other time the Devils did that since the start of the 2009-10 season was in their 7-1 win vs. the Blues on January 21, 2014. Mark Fayne (2:27) and Ryan Carter (2:51) gave the Devils an early 2-0 advantage.

Schwei's Plus Minus:

Plus: Happy Anniversary -- The Devils honored their history with a memorable weekend celebration of the 1995 Stanley Cup champions.

Minus: Lone Day Game -- Sunday's contest with the Flyers was New Jersey's only "afternoon" home game of the 2014-15 season.

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