Schwei's Devils Notes: Stempniak Left His Mark In Short Time In NJ

By John Schweibacher
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Devils general manager Ray Shero was busy at the NHL's trade deadline on Monday, sending Lee Stempniak to Boston and Eric Gelinas to Colorado for draft picks, and dealing Stefan Matteau to Montreal in exchange for Devante Smith-Pelly.

Stempniak, who joined the Devils last September on a tryout, led New Jersey with 41 points. That total matches the most by any Devils player dealt away during a season:

· Lee Stempniak (2015-16; 16 goals, 41 points)

· Jason Arnott (2001-02; 22 goals, 41 points)

· Mel Bridgman (1986-87;  8 goals, 39 points)

· Jaromir Jagr (2014-15; 11 goals, 29 points)

· Niklas Bergfors (2009-10; 13 goals, 27 points)

· Brendan Morrison (1999-00; 5 goals, 26 points)

· Jason Arnott (2010-11; 13 goals, 24 points)

· Marek Zidlicky (2014-15; 4 goals, 23 points)

· Steve Sullivan (1996-97; 8 goals, 22 points)

The Devils were shut out for the seventh time this season, 4-0 by the Tampa Bay Lightning last Friday night at Prudential Center. New Jersey has been shut out 28 times over the past four seasons, tied for the second most in the NHL over that span:

· Buffalo, 32

· New Jersey, 28

· Nashville, 28

· Edmonton, 27

· Arizona, 24

· NY Rangers, 22

Ben Bishop made 21 saves for Tampa Bay in the win. It was the fourth shutout for the Lightning against the Devils in club history and their first in New Jersey:

· 2/26/16; TB 4, at NJD 0; Ben Bishop 21 saves

· 3/15/14; TB 3, NJD 0; Ben Bishop 23 saves

· 1/26/06; TB 1, NJD 0 (OT); John Grahame 20 saves

· 11/23/01; TB 2, NJD 0; Nikolai Khabibulin 29 saves

New Jersey lost in Columbus, 6-1 last Thursday night. Nick Foligno had his second career hat trick and added an assist to lead the Blue Jackets. Foligno's three-goal game was the first by a Blue Jacket against the Devils. Only three franchises have never had a player record a hat trick in a regular or postseason game vs. New Jersey: Florida, Anaheim and Nashville.

According to the player game finder on hockey-reference.com, Foligno is the 10th player to have at least three goals and one assist in a game against the Devils dating to 1995:

· 2/25/16; Nick Foligno, NJD 6, CBJ 1, (3 goals, 1 assist)

· 2/23/13; Alex Ovechkin, Was 5, at NJD 1, (3, 1)

· 2/16/13; John Tavares, NYI 5, NJD 1 (3, 1)

· 2/26/12; Martin St. Louis, TB 4, at NJD 3, (3, 1)

· 10/27/10; Joe Thornton, SJ 5, NJD 2, (3, 2)

· 11/29/08; Sidney Crosby, Pitt 4, NJD 1, (3, 1)

· 1/15/02; Zdeno Ciger, TB 5, NJD 4 (OT), (3, 1)

· 11/25/99; Jeremy Roenick, Phx 4, NJD 2, (3, 1)

· 12/19/97; Doug Brown, Det 5, NJD 4, (3, 1)

· 3/2/95; Bryan Smolinksi, Bos 7, NJD 2 (3, 1)

The Devils beat the Rangers, 5-2 last Tuesday night in Newark. Stempniak's final goal for New Jersey turned out to be the game-winner. Stempniak scored three goals in the Devils' four games against the Rangers this season and two of those goals were winners. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Stempniak was the sixth player to score two game-winning goals for the Devils against the Rangers in one season. The others were John MacLean (1986-87), Stephane Richer (1992-93), Bobby Holik (1997-98), Brian Gionta (2005-06) and David Clarkson (2011-12).

Plus/Minus

Plus: Sergey Kalinin. The Devils' rookie recorded the first "Gordie Howe hat trick" of his NHL career on Tuesday against the Rangers. Kalinin had a goal an assist, and a fight vs. the Rangers' J.T. Miller. It was the first for New Jersey since Jordin Tootoo's on March 14, 2015, at Arizona.

Minus: Lopsided losses. The Devils' 4-0 and 6-1 defeats against Columbus and Tampa Bay were their first pair of consecutive losses by four or more goals since dropping three straight by at least that margin in December 2010.