The Devils have waited nearly a year to atone for their playoff loss to the Hurricanes, their reputation stained throughout this grand 108-point season. The two key 2002 Dallas imports, trying to prove they weren’t the reason last year, claim these Devils far surpass those Devils.
It was an 11-day nightmare for Joe Nieuwendyk and Jamie Langenbrunner last April, when the Devils were first-round flops after reaching the Stanley Cup Finals for two straight seasons. Brought in controversially by Lou Lamoriello to demolish the A Line, each managed only one assist and went minus-2 in the series, each missing one of the six games.
“It’s a much better feeling, certainly, from a personal and a team standpoint. Better than last year,” Nieuwendyk said as the Devils headed into their first-round playoff series against the Bruins, opening at the Meadowlands tonight (7:00).
“This is a much tighter group than it was last year,” Nieuwendyk said. “I wasn’t here long enough to understand it, but half the battle is building a team off the ice as well as on the ice. This isn’t a team that scores a lot of goals, but we play hard for each other.”
Gone are Bobby Holik, Petr Sykora, Valeri Kamensky and Stephane Richer. There were internal issues over the firing of Larry Robinson and installation of Kevin Constantine. In are Jeff Friesen, Oleg Tverdovsky, Grant Marshall, Pascal Rheaume and Richard Smehlik, with Pat Burns here because they lost.
The Devils will need Nieuwendyk to score in his final games before unrestricted free agency. The 1999 Conn Smythe Trophy winner was held without a goal in the playoffs for the first time last year (did not play in 1992), weakened by a virus. He owns 57 career playoff goals, tied for 31st in history, needing another to tie Guy Lafleur and Boom-Boom Geoffrion.
Nieuwendyk was held to 17 goals this season; Langenbrunner finished third on the squad with 22, one behind linemate Friesen, six back of Patrik Elias.
“I was definitely disappointed. You’re brought over, brought in, for a reason and it didn’t happen,” said Langenbrunner, perhaps as important a forward as any this season.
When Burns reunited Nieuwendyk and Langenbrunner in December, the Devils took off, climbing to a fifth Atlantic Division title and the second seed in the East. Most nights, Burns used them as the Devils’ top offensive line. In the playoffs, they’ll likely share the scoring burden with Scott Gomez’s line, with Elias and Brian Gionta.
“We’re a better team than we were last year,” Langenbrunner said. “We play more as a team than we did last year.
“The team finished with more points [13] than it had last year, it’s more consistent, so it’s a better team.”
The proving begins in the next two weeks. Although they haven’t beaten a playoff team other than the Islanders (three times) since March 1 (0-3-2-1), there seems a sense among the Devils they’d have to beat themselves to fall to the Bruins, a team 21 points inferior. Their wait ends tonight. They can start parlaying their second-best season into a rehabilitated reputation.
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Burns gave Brian Rafalski the day off from practice, promising Rafalski will be in the lineup. Rafalski said he was taking the day off he didn’t take in the season finale in Buffalo, where he was captain while Scott Stevens, Nieuwendyk, Scott Niedermayer and Martin Brodeur remained at home.
