head coach: Jacques Lemaire

roster: C - Doug Gilmour, Bobby Holik, Bob Carpenter, Denis Pederson, Petr Sykora, Jason Arnott. LW - Dave Andreychuk, Brian Rolston, Patrik Elias, Scott Daniels. RW - Randy McKay, Steve Thomas, Krzysztof Oliwa. D - Scott Stevens, Scott Niedermayer, Lyle Odelein, Kevin Dean, Doug Bodger, Sheldon Souray, Brad Bombardir. G - Martin Brodeur, Mike Dunham.

injuries: 1/22 - Bob Carpenter, broken bone in left foot; expected to resume skating next week.

transactions: 1/15 - Assigned C Petr Sykora and LW Jay Pandolfo To Albany (AHL). 1/19 - Recalled C Petr Sykora from Albany (AHL). 1/24 - Recalled C Peter Zezel from Albany (AHL).

standings:

Eastern Conference - Atlantic Division   
Team         GP   W   L   T   PTS   GF   GA   
New Jersey   50  31  15   4    66  148  102
Philadelphia 48  27  12   9    63  144  104
Washington   50  25  17   8    58  142  127
NY Rangers   50  16  21  13    45  127  137
Florida      51  15  25  11    41  125  149
NY Islanders 50  16  27   7    39  127  145
Tampa Bay    49   9  32   8    26   87  160

game results:

1/14 Rangers      W 4-1
1/20 Detroit      W 3-1
1/22 Pittsburgh   L 3-2
1/24 at Rangers   T 3-3
1/25 at Montreal  W 3-1

team news:

by Phil Aromando, New Jersey Correspondent

Dr. John McMullen, the owner of the Devils, recently lamented that he was "just tired of always being second-best." Although his comment was made in reference to the importance of the need for a new arena, it could just as easily be applied to the attitude local non-Devil fans have towards his team. Nowhere is that more in evidence than on New York sports radio giant WFAN.

If you're a hockey fan, there is nothing quite like tuning into the FAN for the overnight call-in show after a Devils-Rangers game. New York sports fans are notoriously manic-depressive. But Ranger fans are uniquely so - especially when it comes to the Devils. They'll take a win against the Devils as proof of their team's innate superiority. They write off a loss as an anomaly; or qualify it, like regular caller Santo from Queens likes to, as: 'Fine, they won one - but they won't be anything until they beat us in a playoff series'. Somehow, no matter how well the Devils play, they cannot convince these stalwarts that they matter in the scheme of things.

Thankfully, the Devils won the Cup in '95. Had they not, "Game 6" may have taken the place of "1940" as the most haunting chant to echo in any NHL arena. Still, Ranger fans are quick to point out that the Cup was won in a shortened season and therefore doesn't count nearly as much as walking away with it after the epic struggle of a full regular season. And last season's elimination by the underdog Rangers only reinforced the notion that the Cup win was a fluke. In effect, the Devils still have something to prove.

On the ice it's a different story. Both teams respect each other's capabilities. In fact, the Devils may respect the Rangers too much. They are the only team that the Devils seem to play against with a bit of hesitation. They lose games to other teams and can play undisciplined hockey against anyone, but it seems the Rangers have the ability unnerve them.

It wasn't as evident in the 4-1 win on the 14th. That win was largely due to the fact that the Devils got to rookie goaltender Dan Cloutier for three early goals and then managed to trap the game away; (it was the first game in a while where the Devils literally dropped back and willfully clogged the neutral zone from the beginning of the second period on). After Mike Richter replaced Cloutier, the Devils didn't score again. Alexei Kovalev scored the Rangers goal on the power play in the third and nearly brought them within one after a 60-foot blast knocked Brodeur down, bounced off the crumpled goalie and nearly slid into the net. Lyle Odelein alertly got to the puck and prevented it from going in. (Twice in the past week Brodeur has been knocked to the ice. In the Montreal game, Mark Recchi inadvertently kicked him in the head with his skate during a scramble in front. He stayed down a while but didn't leave the game.) The near-miss enlivened the Rangers and they forechecked aggressively throughout the third, but the Devils managed to hold them off. Brodeur only faced 19 shots and the Devils went into the All-Star Break with the best record in the conference.

Last Saturday's tie game was entirely different. The Devils jumped out to an early 2-0 lead on Mike Richter at the Garden but surrendered three power-play goals in three penalty-kill situations to the resurgent Ranger power play. Only Bobby Holik's stellar play saved the game for them. He had two goals - both nice one-timers that cleanly beat Richter. His linemate Dave Andreychuk also scored. He needed it. He's been struggling to find his scoring touch. Although he's scored only nine goals so far, he's been an important forward: he's defensively conscious and he complements Holik and McKay working the puck in the offensive zone. Hard to believe but the team's best and most consistent line is composed of 2/3 of the old Crash Line.

The biggest disappointment in the game was the utterly terrible penalty kill. The Devils rarely allow more than one power-play goal in a game. Less than a month ago, the team was near the top in the league. They are now eleventh. The letdown in this game could have been attributed to Bob Carpenter's absence. He normally goes out and manages the PK unit against guys like Gretzky and Leetch. Denis Pederson filled in for him. I hate to say it but John MacLean and Valeri Zelepukin were two very effective penalty killers. Their loss may be starting to be felt after all.

The new Crash Line is called the Mash Unit. Composed of Scott Daniels, Denis Pederson and Krzysztof Oliwa, it's been a physical and controversial combination. They started the game against the Red Wings and Oliwa, on his first hit, knocked a pane of glass out of the boards. Daniels really got into it with PJ Stock in the Ranger game but drew criticism for head butting him. He was called classless but it doesn't seem to bother him. Look for this line to stay together for a while. They are a physically imposing bunch. Now if only one of them could convincingly win a fight.

Scott Niedermayer participated in his first All-Star Weekend, won the fastest skater competition and scored a goal. Being around the league's elite had a noticeable effect. In the first game after the break, against Detroit, he sparked the Devils offense with two assists, one on a nice individual skating effort topped off by an excellent pass. He always plays well against Detroit.

The Detroit game was scoreless entering the third. Sheldon Souray scored at 6:22 to break the tie. He has an exceptionally hard and accurate shot from the perimeter. The Red Wings tied it on a power play five minutes later but Jason Arnott, standing in front of the net like Dave Andreychuk, allowed the puck to deflect off his leg for the go-ahead goal. Considering the last game these teams played in December, it seemed like it was going to open up. It didn't. Detroit only managed one shot on net in the second (by Brent Gilchrist; Brodeur had to make a nice glove save), mainly because they were on the penalty kill most of the period. Doug Gilmour quietly contributed three assists.

Petr Sykora returned from his most recent injury forcing Patrik Elias to sit out. Jacques Lemaire has been juggling the players that skate on the Carpenter and Gilmour lines. He seems set with the Mash Unit and the Andreychuk-Holik-McKay setup. But he hasn't set up consistent wingers for the other two lines mainly because he has an overabundance of youth in Elias, Sykora and Arnott. With Carpenter out, he played those three guys together. With Carpenter back - one of them will have to sit. He relies on Carpenter too much to scratch. Better candidates for sitting are Steve Thomas or Brian Rolston. Rolston has seen a little more offensive production of late but Thomas is struggling to generate any offense. And neither of those players can hit the net or finish off chances in close. There were at least three plays apiece over the past week where they were in and shot wide or just plain put it right in the goalie's glove. They are having a hard time finishing.

The Devils may be the least glamorous "elite" team in the NHL. Look at Colorado, Detroit or Philly - each team has at least one young, dominant, name scorer on their roster. When it was revealed after the Pittsburgh game that Lou Lamoriello was attempting to lure Jaromir Jagr away from the Pens it made sense. Since adding a playmaking center like Gilmour, the next "one-player-away-from-the-Cup" issue will revolve around a finishing winger. Not that it's desperate - the Devils are scoring goals and getting a contribution from a variety of players; although of late it seems to be anyone associated with the Holik line taking the bulk of the credit. Too bad the Bill Guerin situation ended like it did. He'd still be an asset to this team.

In any event, Jagr reminded the Devils just what he is capable of when the Pens beat them 3-2. Jagr scored less than three minutes into the game and assisted on Stu Barnes' eventual game-winner. He logged a ton of ice time. His heroics aside, Tom Barrasso kept the game in hand during the third period when the Devils woke up. He made exceptional stops on Bobby Holik and Dave Andreychuk in close, turning away 12 shots in the period en route to the victory. Rolston and Niedermayer scored the Devil goals. It was the second straight loss to the Penguins.

You would have expected the Devils to come out as flat as they had against Pittsburgh in the Montreal game considering their rough and tumble match with the Rangers the day before. While it wasn't nearly as exciting it had its share of controversy. Early in the second period, clinging to a 1-0 lead, Bobby Holik launched a one-timer that beat Andy Moog so cleanly that it quickly popped in and out of the net. It was Holik's 22nd of the year. After play resumed, the siren went off and referee Paul Stewart was called to the scorer's box. It seems that the video review judge had a problem with Holik's goal. Stewart hung up on him saying it was clearly a goal. Not 20 seconds later, before play resumed, the siren went off again. Stewart returned to the box and realizing what it was about did not take the call. The siren went off a third time. Stewart grabbed the phone and finally convinced the judge to let it drop. Everyone could see that it was a legal goal. No one was even near the crease. As Jacques Lemaire said after the game, this type of thing could only happen in Montreal.

The Devils led 2-0 going into the third and Montreal was generating little pressure. When Mark Recchi scored to bring them within one at 12:41, Montreal turned it up and Brodeur had to make a number of tough saves to keep them from tying. Moog played very well, stopping 38 shots. Only Brian Rolston's empty- netter with 20 seconds left put the game out of reach. It was the Devils' third straight win over the Canadiens this season.

The Devils' win over Montreal was their 31st of the season. They are off to their best start ever. One thing is clear about their tendencies. When the Devils lead after two periods, their record is a staggering 27-1-1. When trailing after two: 1-10-2. They have only lost 15 total games to date.

The Devils continue their road trip with three games in Western Canada and then one more in Ottawa before heading home for a two- game homestand (Ottawa and New York Islanders) just before Winter Break. The game of the trip will be Wednesday's against Edmonton. Arnott is sure he'll be booed; Guerin is sure it will be tough to line up across from guys he played with for a long time.

Useful Banter
With Bill Guerin and Valeri Zelepukin gone, the Devils now only have two players, Scott Stevens and Martin Brodeur, going to the Olympics. Since it looks like Patrick Roy will be the starting goalie, the Devils may come through Winter Break with a more rested lineup than initially planned.

Martin Brodeur's familiar flaming mask may be left at home for the Olympics. He had a special one made that honors his father's contribution to the Canadian Olympic team's bronze medal winning effort at Cortina in 1956. Brodeur's father, Denis, was the Canadian goaltender. Martin is not sure if he will actually wear the mask.

Ken Daneyko may return after Winter Break. He's still skating and working out on his own.

There have been no developments in the Gilmour contract situation.

Recent Lines
Andreychuk-Holik-McKay
Rolston-Gilmour-Thomas
Elias-Sykora-Arnott
Daniels-Pederson-Oliwa

Defensive Pairings
Stevens-Odelein
Niedermayer-Bombardir
Bodger-Souray

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