Schwei's Devils Notes: As Postseason Race Heats Up, NJ Cools Off

By John Schweibacher
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Three straight defeats have dropped the Devils out of an Eastern Conference playoff spot.

The Devils lost back-to-back games to the Islanders and Capitals on Friday and Saturday, respectively, beaten by two goalies that have had New Jersey's number over the past two seasons -- Jaroslav Halak and Braden Holtby.

The Capitals erased three, one-goal Devils' leads in their 4-3 win on Saturday night in Washington. Holtby got his league-leading 37th victory and improved his overall record against New Jersey to 7-1-0 since the start of last season.

Halak posted his third shutout of the season as the Islanders beat the Devils, 1-0, Friday night in Newark. Halak is 6-0-1 against New Jersey in his two seasons with the Islanders, allowing two goals or less in each game.

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, no goalie other than Holtby or Halak has beaten the Devils more than four times over that span. Here are the goaltenders with at least three wins against New Jersey over the last two seasons:

· Braden Holtby (Was) 7-1-0

· Jaroslav Halak (NYI) 6-0-1

· Sergei Bobrovsky (CBJ) 4-0-0

· Marc-Andre Fleury (Pitt) 4-1-0

· Henrik Lundqvist (NYR) 4-1-1

· Kari Rammo (Cgy) 3-0-0

· Jake Allen (StL) 3-0-0

Halak's 1-0 shutout was the third by an Islanders goalie against the Devils, joining Rick DiPietro (Nov. 16, 2007) and Anders Nilsson (March 4, 2012).

The 1-0 loss was the Devils' second this season on home ice and their ninth all-time since moving to Prudential Center in 2007. New Jersey suffered seven 1-0 regular season losses in its 24 seasons in the Meadowlands. They came against:

· 11/16/91, Bob Essensa (Wpg)

· 4/4/96, Jason Muzzatti (Hfd)

· 2/22/01, Dominik Hasek (Buf)

· 12/22/01, Jani Hurme (Ott)

· 2/15/02, Jose Theodore (Mtl)

· 2/27/02, Roman Cechmanek (Phi)

· 12/23/05, Michael Garnett (Atl)

1-0 shutouts vs. Devils at Prudential Center:

· 11/16/07, Rick DiPietro (NYI)

· 12/26/08, Marc-Andre Fleury (Pit)

· 3/20/10, Ty Conklin (Stl)

· 3/30/10, Tuukka Rask (Bos)

· 11/2/13, Ray Emery (Phi)

· 4/7/14, Karri Ramo (Cgy)

· 11/4/14, Jake Allen (Stl)

· 1/4/16, Petr Mrazek (Det)

· 2/19/16, Jaroslav Halak (NYI)

The Devils lost to the Flyers, 6-3, last Tuesday night at Prudential Center. It was the most goals allowed by New Jersey since a 6-3 loss to Philadelphia in Newark back on Oct. 24, 2008.

Including their days in Kansas City and Colorado, the Devils have allowed seven or more goals to the Flyers in a game on home ice six times in club history:

· 11/11/89, Flyers 7 at Devils 5 (Ron Sutter & Rick Tocchet 2G, 2A)

· 1/11/86, Flyers 8 at Devils 4 (Mark Howe 1G, 3A)

· 12/10/83, Flyers 8 at Devils 2 (Bobby Clarke & Len Hachborn 2G)

· 1/30/81, Flyers 7 at Rockies 4 (Tom Gorence 2G, 1A)

· 11/28/80, Flyers 7 at Rockies 4 (Clarke & Rick MacLeish 3 pts)

· 1/17/76, Flyers 7 at Scouts 1 (Orest Kindrachuk 1G, 3A)

Plus/Minus

Plus: Andy Greene. On Saturday night in Washington the Devils' captain played in his 289th consecutive game, dating back to March 6, 2012, passing Aaron Broten (March 27, 1986 to Jan. 4, 1990) for the sixth-longest streak in Devils' history.

Minus: Shut Out: The Devils' 1-0 loss to the Islanders was their sixth shutout loss this season. Only, Anaheim (8) and Toronto (7) have been blanked more.