The New Jersey Devils' first trip to the Stanley Cup playoffs in six years was a brief one, as they lost their opening-round series against the Tampa Bay Lightning, four games to one.
It was the fifth time in club history the Devils were eliminated in five games in the first round of the postseason:
The others were:• 1993 vs. Pittsburgh• 2004 vs. Philadelphia• 2008 vs. NY Rangers• 2010 vs. Philadelphia
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The Devils have never been swept in any round of the playoffs in the 44 series they have played since moving to New Jersey for the 1982-83 season. Nashville and Vegas are the only other current NHL teams that have never been swept in the postseason.
The Devils swept the Lightning in the regular season (3-0-0). The only other teams to defeat New Jersey in the postseason after losing all of their regular-season games versus the Devils were the 2001 Colorado Avalanche and the 2012 Los Angeles Kings. Both teams faced New Jersey twice in the regular season.
The Devils lost Game 5 to the Lightning, 3-1, Saturday afternoon in Tampa.
Cory Schneider stopped 35 of 37 shots in the loss. It was Schneider's third straight start in the series after coming in to relieve Keith Kinkaid in Game 2.
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Schneider had not started three consecutive games since Jan. 4 at Dallas, Jan. 7 at the Islanders and at home versus Philadelphia on Jan. 13.
Schneider and Kinkaid became the first pair of Devils goaltenders to both start at least two games in the same playoff series since 1990, when Chris Terreri started four times and Sean Burke started twice in the six-game loss to Washington in the Patrick Division semifinals.
Will Butcher had the primary assist on Patrick Maroon’s third-period goal in Game 5, ending the rookie's first postseason with four points (one goal and three assists).
The only other Devils rookie defensemen to have as many as four points in a single playoff series were Eric Weinrich, who also had a goal and three assists in 1990 versus Washington in the Patrick Division semifinals, and Brian Rafalski, who had a goal and three assists as well in the 2000 Stanley Cup Final against Dallas.
After going 4-for-9 on their penalty kill versus the Lightning in the first three games, the Devils killed off all 10 penalties they took in games 4 and 5.
The last time New Jersey killed off all five (or more) penalties in a postseason game was in 2009 against Carolina in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals (0-for-5).
The Devils allowed 18 goals in the five-game series. It was the third most allowed by New Jersey in a five-game series in club postseason history. Here's a look at the top three:
• 23, vs. Pittsburgh (1992-93)• 19, vs. N.Y. Rangers (2007-08)• 18 vs. Tampa Bay (2017-18)
Travis Zajac and Andy Greene played in all five games of the series for New Jersey. The two longest-tenured Devils have played the second and third most career postseason games for New Jersey without winning the Stanley Cup. Here are the top six players in that category:
• Zach Parise (2005-12), 61• Travis Zajac (2006-18), 57• Andy Greene (2006-18), 50• David Clarkson (2006-13), 44• Paul Martin (2003-10), 42• Dainius Zubrus (2007-15), 41
The Devils will likely have the 17th pick in the first round of the upcoming draft. New Jersey has selected 17th once before in club history, in 2003, when it traded up to the 17th spot and chose Parise.
PLUS/MINUS
Plus: Thirty-Something. New Jersey has now played 257 playoff games since it first reached the postseason in 1987-88, the fourth most in the NHL over that span, trailing only Detroit (325), Pittsburgh (320) and Boston (260).
Minus: Over Too Soon. The Devils have advanced past the first round of the postseason only once in the last 11 years.