Schwei's Devils Notes: Overtime Wins, A Record Shootout, More
By John Schweibacher
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The New Jersey Devils closed out November on a down note Monday night, losing a one-goal game at home in regulation for the first time this season, 3-2 to the Florida Panthers.
Coming into play Monday, the only clubs other than New Jersey to not lose such a game were Columbus and Winnipeg. Los Angeles has five, one-goal regulation losses, the most in the NHL.
The Devils have three, one-goal regulation wins at home this season, tied with the Lightning and Ducks for the second most in the league behind Boston with four.
Roberto Luongo made 23 saves in the win for the Panthers and joined an exclusive club, becoming only the second goalie to win 200 games with two different teams.
MORE: Lichtenstein: Devils Angry Over Effort In Loss To Panthers
Luongo, who also won 252 games with Vancouver, matched Patrick Roy, who had 289 wins for Montreal and 262 for Colorado in his Hall of Fame career.
Luongo now has 13 career wins against the Devils -- seven with Florida, five with Vancouver and one when he was with the Islanders. Roy defeated New Jersey 17 times in the regular season -- 12 with Montreal and five with Colorado
On Saturday night in Detroit, the Devils defeated the Red Wings, 4-3, in overtime.
Brian Gibbons scored the first OT goal of his NHL career to give the Devils the win after New Jersey failed to protect a 3-1 lead in the third period.
The victory was the Devils' third in overtime this season and their 19th overtime win over the last three seasons.
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, New Jersey's 19 overtime wins since the start of the 2015-16 season are the most by any Eastern Conference team and fourth most in the NHL behind the Kings (26), Flames (21) and Blackhawks (21).
The Devils are now 3-4 all-time vs. the Red Wings in games decided in overtime:
• Nov. 25, 2017: NJD 4 at Det 3 (Brian Gibbons)
• Nov. 25, 2016: Det 5 at NJD 4 (Mike Green)
• Dec. 11, 2015: Det 2 at NJD 3 (Kyle Palmieri)
• Nov. 27, 2002: NJD 2 at Det 3 (Kris Draper)
• Nov. 20, 1993: Det 4 at NJD 3 (Slava Kozlov)
• Jan. 21, 1988: Det 3 at NJD 2 (Brent Ashton)
• Jan. 15, 1986: NJD 4 at Det 3 (Tim Higgins)
On Friday night at the Prudential Center, the Devils beat the Canucks, 3-2, as Cory Schneider made 23 saves in the win over his former team.
Elias notes that Schneider, who was winless in his first three games for New Jersey against the team he began his NHL career with, has now won all six games he has since played against Vancouver, allowing two or fewer goals in each contest.
Schneider is now tied with Martin Brodeur for the most wins by a Devils goalie against the Canucks in club history:
• Cory Schneider, 6
• Martin Brodeur, 6
• Chris Terreri, 4
• Craig Billington, 2
• Chico Resch, 2
With the win, New Jersey swept the season series with Vancouver and has now won its last seven games against the Canucks. Prior to this streak, the Devils had never won more than two consecutive meetings vs. Vancouver.
On Wednesday night in Newark, the Devils lost to the Boston Bruins, 3-2, in an 11-round shootout.
Taylor Hall began the shootout with a successful attempt for the Devils, but after David Pastrnak tied it for the Bruins in Round 2, no one from either side scored again until Charlie McAvoy got one past Schneider for the game-winner for Boston.
The shootout was the longest ever for New Jersey, topping the 10-round tiebreaker against the Atlanta Thrashers on Feb. 15, 2008 at the Prudential Center.
The Thrashers won, 4-3, that night after forcing overtime on a Marian Hossa goal at 19:41 of the third period.
That shootout was tied at 2-2 through four rounds, as Patrik Elias and Jamie Langenbrunner scored for the Devils while Hossa and Ilya Kovalchuk had goals for Atlanta.
Pascal Dupuis beat Brodeur in the 10th round to give the Thashers the lead, and Atlanta won the shootout and the game when Arron Asham missed wide in his attempt vs. Johan Hedberg.
Plus/Minus:
Plus: Road Work. The Devils are 8-2-2 on the road so far this season. New Jersey's 18 points in away games are currently the most in the NHL.
Minus: Injury Bug. Right wing Kyle Palmieri is expected to miss four to six weeks with a broken right foot after being hit by a shot last week in Minnesota.
