Coming into tonight
Tonight's contest is the second of a four-game road trip. New Jersey has points in a season-high (tie) four straight games (2-0-2) and in 11 of its last 14 (7-3-4=18pts). The Devils have played 25 roads games entering tonight, which is the second-most (tie, Tampa Bay) in the Eastern Conference behind Philadelphia (26).
New Jersey's 4-0 win over the Rangers on Oct. 19 was its first of the year, snapping the club's team-record, season-opening winless stretch (0-4-3=3pts). The previous record for winless games to open a season was four: 2001-02 (0-4-0) and 1994-95 (0-3-1).
The Devils won their first road game of 2013-14 on Oct. 26 with a 4-3 come-from-behind win at Boston. It was the fourth time in team history that the Devils won a game in regulation after trailing in the final two minutes of the third period, and the first since a 2-1 win against the Islanders at Nassau Coliseum on Mar. 10, 2012.
New Jersey will continue its road trip Thursday at Colorado (9:00 PM ET, MSG Plus 2, Sports Radio 66 AM & 101.9 FM WFAN).
Devils vs. Canadiens
Tonight's game between the Devils and Canadiens is the third/final meeting between the clubs this season, and the second contest to be played at Bell Centre.
Montreal leads the season series 2-0-0 following a 4-3 SO win Dec. 4 at Prudential Center, out-scoring New Jersey 6-5 despite being out-shot 64-47. Michael Ryder leads the Devils with 2g-1a-3pts, while David Desharnais has 1g-2a-3pts to lead the Canadiens.
Martin Brodeur (0-1-0, 3.04 goals-against average & .824 save-percentage) and Cory Schneider (0-0-1, 2.77 GAA & .900 save %) have split the goaltending duties for New Jersey, while Carey Price (1-0-0, 2.00 GAA & .933 save %) and Peter Budaj (1-0-0, 2.78 GAA
& .912 save %) have each started one game for Montreal.
Patrik Elias is New Jersey's all-time leading scorer vs. the Habs with 26g-25a-51pts in 60 games, while Danny Briere leads Montreal's active skaters with 14g-12a-26pts in 51 games vs. the Devils. Brodeur is now 44-19-6 with 9 shutouts and a 1.85 goals-against average in 69 career games vs. Montreal. Schneider's start on Dec. 4 was the first of his career vs. the Canadiens. Price is now 8-9-1 with 1 ShO and a 2.39 GAA in 18 career appearances vs. New Jersey.
The Devils lead the all-time series vs. the Canadiens 60-40-10, including a 26-24-5 mark in the previous 55 games played in Montreal.
New Jersey Devils: Notes de presse/Media Notes
Upcoming Milestones
Jagr ties Messier, passes Lemieux
With an assist Saturday vs. Florida, right wing Jaromir Jagr now has 694g-1030a-1724pts in his NHL career, passing Mario Lemieux (690g-1033a-1723pts) for sole-possession of seventh-place on the league's all-time scoring list. Steve Yzerman ranks sixth with 1755pts (692g-1063a). Jagr scored his 694th career goal Dec. 21 at Washington to tie Mark Messier for seventh-place in NHL history.
Mike Gartner ranks sixth all-time with 708 goals. Jagr scored his 693rd goal on Dec. 18 vs. Ottawa to pass Yzerman for eighth-place.
On Nov. 27 vs. Carolina, he passed Lemieux (690) for ninth.
Jagr Sets GWG Mark
Right wing Jaromir Jagr scored his 122nd career game-winning goal on Dec. 18 vs. Ottawa to establish a new NHL record. He tied the previous record-holder, Gordie Howe, with his 121st game-winner on Nov. 21 at Los Angeles.
Prolific Pair
Right wing Jaromir Jagr (694g-1030a-1724pts) and left wing Patrik Elias (382g-573a-955pts) are the NHL's 1st and 8th active leading scorers, respectively. Their combined 2,679 career points are tops among any pair of teammates in the league; Anaheim's Teemu Selanne and Saku Koivu (2,265pts) are second. In addition, Jagr and Elias are also the no. 1 and no. 2 scoring Czech-born players in NHL history. Milan Hejduk is third with 375g-430a-805pts.
Gelinas Among Top Rookie Blueliners
Defenseman Eric Gelinas has 4g-13a-16pts in 36 games this season. He's tied for first among all rookie defensemen with 13 assists with Boston's Torey Krug & Nashville's Seth Jones. His 17 points are 2nd (tie, Jones) behind Krug (23), despite playing in nine fewer games.
Penalty-Kill Among League's Best
New Jersey's penalty-kill was 3/4 Sunday night at Toronto and remains among the league's best. The Devils are 130/151 (86.1%) on the PK this season, which ranks fourth in the NHL. At home, New Jersey is 65/71 (91.6%) which is second only to Pittsburgh (54/58, 93.1%).
Consecutive Shootout Losses
On Jan. 12 at Toronto, New Jersey lost its 11th consecutive shootout dating back to Mar. 15, '13 at Philadelphia, which ties an NHL record. The Detroit Red Wings also had 11 consecutive SO losses from Mar. 3-Dec. 12, '13. Reid Boucher was the Devils' first shooter on Dec. 4 vs. Montreal and scored to snap New Jersey's NHL record (tie, Tampa Bay, 2009) stretch of 20 consecutive SO attempts without a goal.
Working Overtime
Right wing Jaromir Jagr scored his 18th career overtime goal Nov. 21 at Los Angeles, extending his NHL record. Left Wing Patrik Elias is tied for second, along with Sergei Fedorov and Mats Sundin, in league history with 15 OT game-winners.
Sochi Bound
Left Wing Patrik Elias, right wing Jaromir Jagr and defenseman Marek Zidlicky were named to the Czech Republic's Olympic roster on Jan. 6. Jagr, who was a member of the country's Gold Medal-winning team in 1998, will be competing in his fifth Olympic Games. He will become the eighth player in Olympic history to compete in five games, joining Raimo Helminen (6, Fin.), Teemu Selanne (Fin.), Dieter Hegen (Ger.), Udo Kiessling (Ger.), Denis Perez (Fra.), Petter Thorenson (Nor.) & Jere Lehtinen (Fin.). Elias will be representing his country for the fourth time and Zidlicky for the third time. Right wing Damien Brunner was named to the Swiss team. He will be representing his country at the Olympics for the first time.
Player Milestone Needs
Stephen Gionta 100th Game 5 Games
Adam Henrique 100th Point 11 Points
Jaromir Jagr 700th Goal 6 Goals
Travis Zajac 300th Point 4 Points
Travis Zajac 200th Assist 9 Assists
World Junior Championship
The 2014 World Junior Championship concluded Jan. 5 in Malmo, Sweden. Finland defeated Sweden, 3-2 in overtime, in the Gold Medal Game, while Russia topped Canada, 2-1, to win the Bronze Medal. Devils' forward prospect Stefan Matteau (1st rd./2012 Entry Draft) had 4g-2a-6pts, while defensman prospect Steven Santini (2nd rd./2013) had1g-0a-1pt in six games each for the United States.
Team USA was eliminated with a 5-3 loss to Russia in the quarterfinals.