WASHINGTON – The Devils were back last night where they opened this roller-coaster season, hoping to fashion a thoroughly different finish from the way it began.

It was on Oct. 6 that the Devils were blown away 6-1 here by the Caps, Martin Brodeur pulled in favor of Scott Clemmensen, the season-opening start of a three-game losing streak, a harbinger of the struggles they would endure before catching fire under Kevin Constantine.

Gone from that lineup are Josef Boumedienne, who scored New Jersey’s lone goal that night, Sascha Goc, Clemmensen, Jiri Bicek, Pierre Dagenais, Randy McKay and Jason Arnott. Gone are assistant coaches Slava Fetisov and Jay Leach. Back is Larry Robinson, the head coach dismissed in January and brought back as an assistant a month later.

Last night, with such imports as Joe Nieuwendyk and Jamie Langenbrunner, Constantine, and assistant Kurt Kleinendorst, they would try to complete the season with a six-game winning streak and run Constantine’s record to 20-8-2-1.

“There are a lot of good signs. I like the way we haven’t given up many power plays,” said Brodeur, whose season was likely done at 38-26-9, with John Vanbiesbrouck expected to play last night. “I don’t know if we’ve had a five-game winning streak all season.”

Actually, they were trying to match their season best last night, the six-game winning streak that immediately followed the open three losses. And they had a look at the flip side of that opening night debacle. Last night, those Caps were going home for summer.

Scott Stevens had made moot the question of whether he’d be heckled by his former fans for failing to score a goal for the first time in his 20-year career. He took care of that issue in Friday’s 5-2 victory over the Canadiens at the Meadowlands, warning his teammates that he’d be trying to break his goose-egg.

“I told them, ‘I might be going, so back me up,'” Stevens said of his quest. “No question, they were trying to find me.”

Sergei Brylin finally did, setting up Stevens at the side of the net for his first goal in 89 games, a score that proved to be the eventual winner.

“Too bad we can’t bug him any more,” Brodeur said.

Stevens scored 21 goals in 1984-85, and cracked double figures nine times, scoring nine last season. Reminded too often that he is now 38, the goose-egg was not resting lightly on his brow.

“He said he was going for it. He was definitely sniffing out there,” Brylin said. “I’d love to see him there more often.”

“It’s not a stellar season because of that, but it’s one, not zero anymore. We can try again next year,” said Stevens. “I know my role, but it’s still nice to score.”