Schwei's Devils Notes: Losing Streak Hits 7 -- 5 By A Single Goal
By John Schweibacher
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The New Jersey Devils have lost seven games in a row for the second time this season and have been shut out twice in the their last three games as they are now just one point ahead of the last-place Detroit Red Wings in the Eastern Conference.
New Jersey lost its seventh consecutive game, 3-0 to Columbus on Sunday night at the Prudential Center. Sergei Bobrovsky made 20 saves in the win, improving his record vs. the Devils to 7-2-0 during his five seasons with the Blue Jackets.
The shutout was Columbus' first ever against New Jersey since entering the NHL for the 2000-01 season. The Nashville Predators, who began play in 1998-99, are the only current team to not record a shutout vs. the Devils.
The only other shutout by an Ohio-based NHL team against the Scouts/Rockies/Devils franchise came just over 40 years ago on Feb. 11, 1977, when the Cleveland Barons beat the Colorado Rockies, 3-0, with Gilles Meloche making 23 saves at Ohio's Richfield Coliseum.
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On Saturday night, the Devils lost their sixth in a row, 3-2 at Boston. It was the fifth consecutive one-goal loss for New Jersey and its 19th of the season, tied for the fourth most in the NHL in 2016-17.
A look at the league leaders:
• Toronto, 21 (0-7-14)
• Detroit, 20 (0-9-11)
• Buffalo, 20 (0-8-12)
• New Jersey, 19 (0-7-12)
• Carolina, 19 (0-9-10)
• Florida, 19 (0-8-11)
• NY Islanders, 19 (0-8-11)
• Arizona, 19 (0-12-7)
The Devils have the second-most one-goal losses in the NHL since they reached the Stanley Cup Finals in 2011-12:
• Buffalo, 108 (0-61-47)
• New Jersey, 105 (0-43-62)
• Carolina, 98 (0-46-52)
• Detroit, 96 (0-37-59)
• Edmonton, 95 (0-49-46)
Kyle Palmieri scored his team-leading 20th goal of the season in the loss to Boston. Palmieri, who had 30 goals for the Devils in 2015-16, is the sixth player to score at least 20 goals in his first two seasons after being acquired by New Jersey (excluding players acquired midseason the previous year):
• Kyle Palmieri 2015-16 (30) 2016-17 (20)
• Stephane Richer 1991-92 (29) 1992-93 (38)
• Claude Lemieux 1990-91 (30) 1991-92 (41)
• Mark Johnson 1985-86 (21) 1986-87 (25)
• Doug Sulliman 1984-85 (22) 1985-86 (21)
• Mel Bridgman 1983-84 (23) 1984-85 (22)
On Thursday night, New Jersey lost its fifth straight game and was shut out for the fifth time by an opponent this season, 1-0 at Washington.
Braden Holtby stopped 15 shots for the Capitals in the win, the fewest by the Devils in a game this season. It was the fourth time in club history New Jersey had 15 or fewer shots on goal in a shutout loss:
• 3/2/17: NJD 0 at Was 1, Braden Holtby, 15 saves
• 1/8/15: NJD 0 at Bos 3, Niklas Svedberg, 14 saves
• 11/2/13: Phi 1 at NJD 0, Ray Emery, 14 saves
• 2/27/12: NJD 0 at NYR 2, Henrik Lundqvist, 13 saves
Holtby also joined Marc-Andre Fleury and Tuukka Rask as the only goalies with at least two career 1-0 victories against the Devils.
Kevin Rooney made his NHL debut for New Jersey in the loss. Rooney's uncle Steve Rooney played 25 games for the Devils in 1988-89, scoring three goals, including one game-winner against the Red Wings on Jan. 7, 1989, at the Meadowlands.
New Jersey Devils general manager Ray Shero made a pair of deals before the NHL's trade deadline last Wednesday, sending P.A. Parenteau to the Predators in exchange for Nashville's 2017 sixth-round draft pick and acquiring Dalton Prout from Columbus for Kyle Quincey in a swap of defensemen.
Parenteau, who was claimed on waivers by the Devils from the Islanders in October, had 27 points in his 59 games with New Jersey, tied for the fifth most by a Devils player traded during a season:
• Lee Stempniak (2015-16), 16 G, 25 A, 41 pts
• Jason Arnott (2001-02), 22 G, 19 A, 41 pts
• Mel Bridgman (1986-87), 8 G, 31 A, 39 pts
• Jaromir Jagr (2014-15) 11 G, 18 A, 29 pts
• P.A. Parenteau (2016-17) 13 G, 14 A, 27 pts
• Niklas Bergfors (2009-10) 13 G, 14 A, 27 pts
•· Brendan Morrison (1999-00) 5 A, 21 A, 26 pts
• Jason Arnott (2010-11) 13 G, 11 A, 24 pts
• Marek Zidlicky (2014-15) 4 G, 19 A, 23 pts
• Steve Sullivan (1996-97) 8 G, 14 A, 22 pts
Plus/Minus:
Plus: Road Kill. The Devils' 87.3 penalty-killing percentage in road games (14 goals allowed in 110 power plays) is the best in the NHL.
Minus: Powerless. New Jersey went 0-for-8 on the power play in its three games this past week after going 7-for-15 with the man advantage in its previous seven contests.
