Devils at Flyers
The New Jersey Devils shot themselves in the foot with their performance in the shootout last season, losing all 13 such contests to extend their NHL-record run of futility to 17 while finishing just five points behind the wild-card teams. The Devils look to put last season's woes behind them when they open their 2013-14 campaign on the road against the Metropolitan Division-rival Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday. While Jaromir Jagr (team-leading 43 assists, 67 points) remains with New Jersey, another future Hall-of-Famer is now unemployed as four-time Vezina Trophy winner Martin Brodeur failed to latch on with another club - with the Devils officially handing the reins to Cory Schneider (1.97 goals-against average).
"After the way last season ended, none of us was too pleased and I think this year, especially for me personally, it kind of begins a new chapter," Schneider told The Bergen (N.J.) Record on Wednesday. While New Jersey looks for a strong start, Philadelphia coach Craig Berube wasn't too happy with his team's play from the get-go en route to a 2-1 loss to Boston on Wednesday. "I think we were just on our heels," he said. "... I thought at times in the first period, we looked stagnant with the puck in transition."
TV: 7 p.m. ET, MSG Plus (New Jersey), CSN Philadelphia
ABOUT THE DEVILS (2013-14: 35-29-18, 6TH IN METROPOLITAN): General manager Lou Lamoriello addressed his team's offensive woes by signing Mike Cammalleri to a five-year, $25 million deal in the offseason. Cammalleri (26 goals) is expected to skate on a line with Travis Zajac and Jagr to help provide a jolt for an offense that finished with the fourth-fewest goals last season. Although New Jersey's roster puts it comfortably as the oldest team in the league, the 24-year-old Adam Henrique is only getting better as he is coming off a 25-goal performance last season.
ABOUT THE FLYERS (0-1-0): Philadelphia did not distinguish itself on the power play, failing on all three opportunities while mustering a total of four shots. "We didn't execute," captain Claude Giroux said after he was held to one shot while losing 17-of-21 faceoffs. "... I don't know about the other guys, but I would get the puck and I couldn't get the confidence to make the play. We need to relax and play the game." Sean Couturier scored the team's lone goal and Steve Mason yielded Chris Kelly's tally with 1:51 remaining in the third period before finishing with 31 saves.
OVERTIME
1. New Jersey boasted the league's best penalty kill at 86.4 percent last season.
2. The teams each won two games in the 2013-14 season series, combining for just 12 goals.
3. Schneider has yet to play a regular-season game in two NHL arenas - Wells Fargo Center (Philadelphia) and Bell Centre (Montreal).