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

By John Schweibacher
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It's getting late early for the New Jersey Devils, who begin the week with just two wins in their last 11 games (2-6-3) and have fallen to a season-low four games below .500 (11-15-5), tied for 12th in the Eastern Conference standings.

Scott Gomez has been one of the few bright spots lately for the Devils. The 34-year-old center, who signed with New Jersey on December 1, has four points in his last four games, including his first goal of the season in the 4-3 loss Saturday night at Dallas.

Gomez had two assists in last Monday night's win at Carolina, his first regular-season points as a Devil since March 28, 2007 at Buffalo.

Here are the longest gaps between scoring points in separate stints for the New Jersey Devils:

•Brendan Shanahan: 17 years, 9 months and 20 days (3/31/91 vs. NY Islanders -- 1/19/09 at Nashville)
•Steve Sullivan: 16 years, 1 month and 24 days (2/15/97 at Montreal -- 4/7/13 at Buffalo)
•Jim Dowd: 10 years, 10 months and 20 days (12/19/95 vs. Philadelphia -- 11/7/06 vs. Carolina)
•Petr Sykora: 9 years, 5 months and 29 days (4/12/02 vs. Montreal -- 10/10/11 vs. Carolina)
•Brian Rolston: 8 years, 11 months and 14 days (10/27/99 vs. St. Louis -- 10/10/08 vs. NY Islanders)
•Jason Arnott: 8 years, 7 months and 8 days (3/1/02 vs. Toronto -- 10/8/10 vs. Dallas)
•Scott Gomez: 7 years, 8 months and 11 days (3/28/07 at Buffalo -- 12/8/14 at Carolina)

Gomez is now tied for fourth all-time in assists in club history:

All-Time Devils Assist Leaders:

• Patrik Elias: 599

• Scott Niedermayer: 364

• John MacLean: 354

• Scott Gomez: 337

• Scott Stevens: 337

• Kirk Muller: 335

Keith Kinkaid, in the first start of his NHL career, made 37 saves for the Devils against the Blackhawks but gave up goals to Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane in the shootout. Chicago came away with a 3-2 win over New Jersey last Tuesday night at Prudential Center.

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Kinkaid is only the fourth rookie goaltender to start a game for the Devils after 1993-94, which was Martin Brodeur's first full season in the NHL.

The others are Corey Schwab (four starts in 1995-96), Mike Dunham (16 starts in 1996-97) and Jean-Francois Damphousse (four starts in 2001-02).

Here is how the three other rookie goalies since Brodeur fared for New Jersey in their first NHL starts:

• Corey Schwab: 11/22/95 at TB, 3-1 loss

• Mike Dunham: 11/07/96 at Chi, 4-2 win

• J.F. Damphousse: 11/23/01 at TB, 2-0 loss

Like Brodeur in 1992, Kinkaid's 1st NHL/New Jersey Devils start came on home ice, something that only six goalies in club history can claim:

• Shawn MacKenzie: 12/09/82 vs. Was, 6-4 loss

• Craig Billington: 10/26/85 vs. LA, 5-2 win

• Sam St. Laurent: 3/27/86 vs. Stl, 1-0 win

• Kirk McLean: 4/06/86 vs. NYI, 9-7 win

• Martin Brodeur: 3/26/92 vs. Bos, 4-2 win

• Keith Kinkaid: 12/9/14 vs. Chi, 3-2 SO loss

Jaromir Jagr, in the 1,500th regular-season game of his NHL career, scored one goal and assisted on another as the Devils posted a 2-1 win over the Hurricanes last Monday night in Raleigh.

Jagr is the 15th player in NHL history to reach that games-played milestone, and according to the Elias Sports Bureau, he's the the sixth to register a multipoint performance in his 1,500th game:

• Gordie Howe: 12/15/68, Det vs. Min (one goal, one assist)

• Alex Delvecchio: 1/7/73, Det vs. NYI (two assists)

• Johnny Bucyk: 12/11/77, Bos at NYI (two goals)

• Larry Murphy: 11/26/99, Edm at Det (two assists)

• Mark Messier: 11/22/00, NYR at NYI (one goal, one assist)

• Jaromir Jagr: 12/8/14, NJD at Car (one goal, one assist)

The Devils host the Senators Wednesday night at Prudential Center, beginning a four-game homestand and a stretch of eight of 10 games on home ice.

Ottawa is now coached by Dave Cameron, who replaced Paul MacLean. MacLean was fired by the Senators last week.

Cameron, who played 102 games for the Devils during the 1982-83 and 1983-84 seasons, is the seventh former Devils player to become a head coach in the NHL, and the fourth who was part of that inaugural season in New Jersey.

Here is the list of the Devils players who later became NHL head coaches:

• Dave Cameron (NJD: 1982-83 to 1983-84)

Coached Ottawa: 2014-15 - present

• Kirk Muller (NJD: 1984-85 to 1990-91)

Coached Carolina: 2011-12 to 2014

• John MacLean (NJD: 1983-84 to 1997-98)

Coached New Jersey: 2010-11

• Mike Kitchen (NJD: 1982-83 to 1983-84)

Coached St. Louis: 2003-04 to 2006-07

• Dave Lewis (NJD: 1983-84 to 1985-86)

Coached Detroit: 1998-99, 2002-03 to 2003-04 and Boston 2006-07

• Joel Quenneville (NJD: 1982-83)

Coached St. Louis: 1996-97 to 2003-04, Colorado 2005-06 to 2007-08 and Chicago 2008-09-present

• Ron Low (NJD: 1982-83 to 1984-85)

Coached Edmonton: 1994-95 to 1998-99 and NY Rangers 2000-01 to 2001-02

Schwei's Plus/Minus:

Plus: Killing It -- New Jersey was 2-for-2 on the penalty kill Saturday night at Dallas, and is now 50-for-55 (90.9 percent) over the past 16 games.

Minus: Shooting Gallery -- The Devils have allowed at least 36 shots on goal in four straight games, and have averaged 31.3 shots against per game this season after leading the NHL with just 25.5 allowed per game last season.

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