Schwei's Devils Notes: Raanta, Tarasenko, Mitchell Contribute To NJ's Slide
By John Schweibacher
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The New Jersey Devils began last week with their second consecutive win, but things quickly took a turn in the wrong direction for John Hynes' club with three straight losses.
The Devils were shut out for the second time this season when they lost to the Rangers, 5-0, on Sunday night at Madison Square Garden. Antti Raanta, who was making his third consecutive start for New York, made 19 saves in the win.
Raanta became the first Rangers goalie other than Henrik Lundqvist to shut out the Devils since Mike Richter, who made 33 saves in a 3-0 victory over New Jersey on Jan. 12, 1997, at MSG.
On Friday night, the Devils lost to the Blues, 4-1, their first regulation loss at home after establishing a franchise-record 8-0-2 start through the first 10 home games of 2016-17.
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Vladimir Tarasenko, who began this week tied for second in the NHL in points, assisted on three of the Blues' four goals in the victory.
Here is the list of St. Louis Blues who had at least three assists in a game against the New Jersey:
• 12/9/16: Stl 4 at NJD 1 -- Vladimir Tarasenko, three assists
• 11/30/02: NJD 5 at Stl 4 -- Eric Boguniecki, three assists
• 12/2/97: Stl 3 at NJD 1 -- Craig Conroy, three assists
• 11/26/93: NJD 6 at Stl 6 -- Craig Janney, four assists
• 2/6/92: NJD 1 at Stl 4 -- Adam Oates, three assists
• 2/10/90: NJD 0 at Stl 7 -- Ron Wilson, three assists
• 2/10/90: NJD 0 at Stl 7 -- Paul Cavallini, three assists
• 3/7/89: NJD 2 at Stl 6 -- Peter Zezel, three assists
• 3/10/84: NJD 5 at Stl 6 -- Bernie Federko, one goal, three assists
• 3/10/84: NJD 5 at Stl 6 -- Joe Mullen, three assists
• 11/16/82: NJD 2 at Stl 7 -- Bernie Federko, three assists
On Thursday night, New Jersey lost at Montreal, 5-2. Torrey Mitchell had his first two-goal game for the Canadiens in the win.
Only two Montreal Canadiens have scored three goals in a game against New Jersey: Mike McPhee had the hat trick in an 8-3 Habs' win at the Forum on Dec. 28, 1985, and Claude Lemieux scored three times against New Jersey in a 7-3 Canadiens win at the Meadowlands on Oct. 14, 1988.
Carey Price could have been subject to a match penalty for using his blocker to hit Kyle Palmieri in the head after the Devils forward collided with the Canadiens goalie late in the first period but was only assessed four minutes for roughing.
According to Hockey-Reference.com, four goaltenders have been ejected in games against the Devils dating back to the 1987-88 season:
• 4/8/94: vs. Pit -- Tom Barrasso (game misconduct 19:15 2P)
• 11/18/89: at Bos -- Reggie Lemelin (game misconduct 18:35 1P)
• 10/23/89: at Tor -- Mark Laforest (game misconduct 17:14 2P)
• 1/10/88: at Phi -- Ron Hextall (game misconduct 9:15 1P)
Last Tuesday night, Taylor Hall scored one goal and assisted on another to lead the Devils to a 3-2 win over the Canucks in Newark. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Hall's 28 points in 30 games against Vancouver (eight goals, 20 assists) are the most points any player has produced vs. the Canucks since Hall entered the league in October 2010.
Patrik Elias, the Devils' all-time leading scorer, had 17 points (10 goals, seven assists) in 19 career games against the Canucks, the most for New Jersey in club history.
Plus/Minus:
Plus: Off the Schneid. P.A. Parenteau scored his sixth goal of the season in the loss to St. Louis, his first goal since Nov. 8 vs. Carolina (14 games).
Minus: Schneid is Off. Cory Schneider has given up at least three goals in eight of his last nine starts and is now 9-8-1 with a 2.83 goals-against average and a .907 save percentage overall this season.
