The New Jersey Devils split their four games this past week as they made some moves as sellers at the NHL trade deadline.
The Devils completed their first season sweep of the Canadiens since 2008-09 with a 2-1 win over Montreal Monday night in Newark.
Three newcomers got in the scoring column for New Jersey; Nathan Bastian, who scored his first NHL goal, Kurtis Gabriel, who got his second and recently acquired defenseman Connor Carrick, who assisted on both goals.
Lichtenstein: Devils' Sell-Off At Trade Deadline The Right Move For Future
Bastian, playing in his second NHL game, became the fifth player to score his first career regular season goal for New Jersey vs. Montreal:
2/25/19 Nathan Bastain vs. Mtl (Carey Price)
12/16/09 Ilkka Pikkarainen vs. Mtl (Carey Price)
2/23/96 Steve Sullivan vs. Mtl (Pat Jablonski)
2/27/95 Brian Rolston vs. Mtl (Patrick Roy)
2/27/95 Sergei Brylin vs. Mtl (Patrick Roy)
Carrick became the first defenseman to have at least two assists in his Devils' debut since Will Butcher, who also had a pair of assists in his NHL debut with New Jersey vs. Colorado on October 7th, 2017.
The Devils sent Keith Kinkaid to the Blue Jackets prior to the NHL trade deadline Monday.
Kinkaid played in 151 regular season games for New Jersey, the sixth-most in club history, and had 64 wins, trailing only Martin Brodeur, Chris Terreri and Cory Schneider on the Devils' all-time list.
Devils Trade Kinkaid To Blue Jackets, Johansson To Bruins
The Devils lost to the Rangers, 5-2, Saturday afternoon at Madison Square Garden.
Nico Hischier had an assist in the loss, tying him with the injured Taylor Hall for the club lead with 26.
Hischier now has 95 career points, tied for the fourth-most among players in their first two seasons of their NHL careers with New Jersey:
Scott Gomez 33g 100a 133pts
Kirk Muller 42g 78a 120pts
Greg Adams 47g 51a 98pts
Valeri Zelepukin 36g 59a 95pts
Nico Hischier 37g 58a 95pts
Zach Parise 45g 49a 94pts
Alexander Semak 42g 48a 90pts
Kenny Agostino scored his first goal since being traded to New Jersey in the loss.
The last player to score his first goal for the Devils vs. the Rangers was Drew Stafford, who did so back on October 14th, 2017 in a 3-2 New Jersey win at New York.
Prior to the game, the Devils traded Ben Lovejoy to the Dallas Stars for defenseman Connor Carrick and a 2019 third-round draft pick.
Devils Trade Lovejoy To Stars For Defenseman, Draft Pick
With Lovejoy’s departure, New Jersey does not have a player on its NHL roster that is a former Stanley Cup winner.
The last time the Devils did not have at least one former Cup winner on their roster (active or injured) was in the first half of the 1987-88 season before Pat Conacher (who was a member of the 1983-84 Edmonton Oilers) was called up from the AHL.
The Devils beat the Senators, 4-0, last Thursday night at Prudential Center.
Cory Schneider made 30 saves in his first shutout since November 1st, 2017 at Vancouver.
It was just the second regular season shutout by a Devils’ goalie in a home game vs. Ottawa.
Martin Brodeur, who also had a shutout against the Senators at the Meadowlands in Game 3 of the 2003 Eastern Conference Finals, beat the Senators, 2-0, in New Jersey back on February 4th, 1998.
The Devils now have six shutouts this season from three different goalies.
It is the third time in club history New Jersey has had three goalies register shutouts in the same season:
2018-19 Keith Kinkaid (3) Mackenzie Blackwood (2) Cory Schneider (1).
2015-16 Cory Schneider (4) Keith Kinkaid (2) Scott Wedgewood (1).
2003-04 Martin Brodeur (11) Scott Clemmensen (2) Corey Schwab (1).
Kurtis Gabriel scored his first NHL goal in the win. Gabriel is the 6th player to register his first NHL goal for the Devils in a game vs. the Senators:
Kurtis Gabriel 2/21/19 vs. Ott (Anders Nilsson)
Nico Hischier 10/19/17 at Ott (Craig Anderson)
Joe Blandisi 1/21/16 vs. Ott (Craig Anderson)
Reid Boucher 12/18/13 vs. Ott (Robin Lehner)
Stephen Gionta 4/7/12 vs. Ott (Craig Anderson)
Barry Tallackson 11/19/05 at Ott (Ray Emery)
The Devils failed to complete a season sweep of the Penguins, losing 4-3 to Pittsburgh last Tuesday night in Newark in the fourth and final meeting between the two clubs.
New Jersey, who also won three of their first four games vs. Pittsburgh last season, has not swept the Penguins in the regular season since the 2009-10 season when New Jersey went 6-0-0 vs Pittsburgh.
Last Tuesday night’s game was the 900th of Travis Zajac’s career.
Only 13 other active players have appeared in over 900 career NHL games for one franchise (totals through games of 2/25/19):
Dustin Brown LA 1,097
Alex Ovechkin Was 1,065
Brent Seabrook Chi 1,063
Duncan Keith Chi 1,058
Patrice Bergeron Bos 1,009
Anze Kopitar LA 983
Mikko Koivu Min 973
Ryan Getzlaf Ana 971
Corey Perry Ana 969
Joe Pavelski SJ 951
Marc-Edourad Vlasic SJ 946
Niklas Kronwall Det 934
Sidney Crosby Pit 923
Travis Zajac NJD 903
Plus/Minus:
Plus: Cory Story. Cory Schneider has now won four of his last five decisions, his best stretch since winning five straight games in December of 2017.
Minus: No More Mojo. The Devils traded Marcus Johansson to the Bruins at the trade deadline Monday. Johansson was a minus -26 in his 77 career games with New Jersey. Only Damon Severson at minus -28 has a worse plus/minus rating for the Devils over the last two seasons.