Schwei's Devils Notebook: Little-Known Facts, Odd Stats And Strange Records
By John Schweibacher
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The New Jersey Devils have reached the quarter mark of the 2014-15 NHL season and are almost in the exact same position they were one year ago.
With their shootout loss in Calgary on Saturday night, New Jersey's record fell to 8-8-5 (21 points), equaling their point total through 21 games last season (9-9-3).
However, the Devils sat in the eighth spot in the Eastern Conference after 21 games last year. They are tied for 10th in the East this season.
Scott Clemmensen made his first start of the season in the 5-4 shootout loss in Calgary, his first with New Jersey since February 21, 2009 at the New York Islanders.
With the loss, Clemmensen's record in shootouts with New Jersey fell to 3-5. Clemmensen has the distinction of winning the first shootout the Devils ever participated in; a 5-4 victory against the Bruins in Boston back on October 29, 2005.
Saturday's shootout was just New Jersey's second ever against Calgary. The first occurred four years ago, on November 24, 2010, with Johan Hedberg getting the 2-1 victory over the Flames at Prudential Center.
Clemmensen is now the fifth-oldest goaltender to start a game in Devils history.
Goalie - Age - Date of last Devils start:
· Martin Brodeur - 41 years, 342 days - 4/13/14
· Johan Hedberg - 39 years, 357 days - 4/27/13
· John Vanbiesbrouck - 38 years, 221 days - 4/13/02
· Glenn "Chico" Resch - 37 years, 241 days - 3/8/86
· Scott Clemmensen - 37 years, 122 days - 11/22/14
Cory Schneider recorded his second shutout of the season, fifth with the Devils and the 14th of his NHL career by making 29 saves to lead New Jersey to a 2-0 win over the Oilers in Edmonton.
Before Friday night's game, the Devils' last and only shutout against the Oilers was a 1-0 victory by Sean Burke on January 15, 1989 at the Meadowlands.
Burke stopped all 26 shots he faced in the win, while the Oilers' Grant Fuhr saved all but one of 39 Devils' shots, allowing just a first period power-play goal by Patrik Sundstrom. It was the eighth shutout in Devils history.
Schneider also ended the Devils' longest current shutout drought against one team with that 2-0 win over Edmonton.
Here is the list of the opposing teams New Jersey has now gone the longest without a shutout:
· San Jose 3/29/93 SJ 0 at NJD 5 (Terreri)
· Anaheim 3/18/98 Ana 0 at NJD 3 (Brodeur)
· Chicago 12/9/99 NJD 4 at Chi 0 (Brodeur)
· St. Louis 12/10/02 Stl 0 at NJD 2 (Brodeur)
· Detroit 1/28/03 Det 0 at NJD 0 (Brodeur)
· Toronto 1/10/04 NJD 1 at Tor 0 (Brodeur)
· Vancouver 1/13/07 Van 0 at NJD 3 (Brodeur)
· Calgary 12/23/07 NJD 1 Cgy 0 OT (Brodeur)
New Jersey opened its four-game road trip with a 3-1 loss last Tuesday night in Winnipeg. The Devils are now 1-4-0 at MTS Centre all-time against the Jets.
New Jersey didn't fare much better on the road against the original version of the Winnipeg Jets, now the Arizona Coyotes. The Devils went just 3-12-3 in Manitoba from 1982-83 through 1995-96.
Here are the Devils' four wins all-time in Winnipeg:
· 1/14/12 2-1 Brodeur 22 saves, Elias & Foster goals
· 1/19/94 4-0 Brodeur 32 saves, Niedermayer 1G, 2A
· 11/25/89 3-1 Terreri 37 saves, Turgeon GW goal
· 12/19/82 3-2 Resch 27 saves, Marini GW goal
Dainius Zubrus appeared in his 500th regular season game with the Devils Friday night in Edmonton, becoming the 24th player in team history to do so.
Zubrus is just the sixth of those 24 players to play in 500 regular season games for New Jersey who did not begin his career in the Devils' organization:
· Scott Stevens 956
· Bobby Holik 786
· Randy McKay 760
· Jamie Langenbrunner 564
· Tommy Albelin 539
· Dainius Zubrus 501
Schwei's Plus/Minus:
Plus: Four Score and 20 Games Ago. The Devils scored four goals in the loss at Calgary, the first time New Jersey scored more than three in a game since their first two games of the season.
Minus: Blown Lead. With the loss to the Flames, the Devils fell to 5-0-2 this season when leading after two periods. They also blew a two-goal third period lead in a 4-3 overtime loss to the Rangers on October 21st.
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