The New York Rangers made the short trip to Newark, New Jersey’s Prudential Center last night to take on the New Jersey Devils. The result was a 4-1 New York victory which was a much closer game than the final score would indicate.

As always with these two teams, there was physical play, end-to-end action and terrific saves at both ends by the goaltenders.

To give you an idea of what a Rangers vs Devils game is like, the first fight of the evening came at 0:03 of the first period. That’s right, THREE SECONDS after the opening faceoff there was a fight between Mike Rupp of NY and NJ’s Cam Janssen. With a decided reach advantage, Rupp landed more blows but in the end it was a close bout without many haymakers landed but it certainly set the tone and sent a message that this was going to be a hard fought game.

New Jersey had the edge in play through the first period, out-shooting the Rangers by a margin of 12-4 and scoring the lone goal, a rebound shot which Travis Zajac put up and over sprawling goaltender Henrik Lundqvist.

New York picked up their play in period number two, hitting the goal post behind Devils goalie Martin Brodeur at least 3 separate times and finally evened the score at 1 when Artem Anisimov converted a centering feed from Derek Stepan. Stepan’s pass deflected off a Devils defenseman right onto the stick of a charging Anisimov who buried it behind Brodeur for his 7th tally of the season.

The Rangers took the lead for good in the third period on a goal by Marian Gaborik. Another strong play by Anisimov resulted in a shot on goal which was stopped by Brodeur but he couldn’t handle the rebound and Gaborik banged it home for the 2-1 lead.

New Jersey threatened to tie it up on a number of chances but Lundqvist was stellar between the pipes, turning back a total of 30 shots by the end of the game.

It appeared a gaff by Rangers defenseman Ryan McDonagh would give the Devils a chance to tie it as he took a two minute minor for closing his hand on the puck with 6:57 remaning in the third period.

However, it was the Rangers who took advantage as a clearing attempt by Rangers dman Stu Bickel – playing in his first NHL game – went past Ilya Kovalchuk at the Devils’ point and was pounced upon by speedy NY rookie Carl Hagelin. Hagelin broke down 2-on-1 with Brian Boyle and rifled a shot past a stunned Brodeur for a shorthanded goal which gave the visitors a two goal cushion. It marked the 10th shorthanded goal surrendered by the Devils this season, the most given up by any team in the league.

Gaborik put the icing on the cake with an empty net goal in the final 4 seconds of the game. The two goal game gives Gaborik 19 on the season after netting just 22 last year.

The two teams are battling for playoff position in the NHL’s Eastern Conference and will meet up several more times before the year is over.

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After clearing waivers, defenseman Colin White and forward Trent Hunter were bought out yesterday by the New Jersey Devils for a $3.33 million salary-cap savings.

The buyout put an end to a 10 year career with the Devils for White. White joined the Devils late in the 1999-00 season and has only played for New Jersey throughout his entire NHL career. Often leading the team in penalty minutes, White established himself as a physical defenseman. During his tenure with New Jersey, White won two Stanley Cup Championships, one in 2000 and the other in 2003.  In 743 career regular season games White has totaled 20 goals, 105 assists, and 848 penalty minutes.

White’s agent, Ben Hankinson, is confident he will remain in the NHL. “I think there’s quite a few teams that are interested in his services,” Hankinson said. “We’re just sorting through our options right now. Colin White will be playing somewhere in the NHL this season.”

In exchange for another veteran forward, Brian Rolston and a second round draft pick next year, Trent Hunter was acquired from the New York Islanders last week.  While with the Islanders, Hunter played 459 regular season games, totaled 99 goals, 130 assists, and 201 penalty minutes.  He missed most of last season with a torn MCL.

In addition to opening up salary cap room for the Devils these buyouts will also free up space on the roster for some of their younger players, including defenseman Adam Larsson, the team’s 2011 first-round pick.

The 2011-12 season is now on sale, find New Jersey Devils tickets today at Select-A-Ticket.

It may be early in the season, but the New Jersey Devils have found themselves in a position they do not want to be in. The Devils (2-7-1) are uncharacteristically in the bottom of the NHL, and tonight they will try to end their losing streak against the Anaheim Ducks.

The Devils are in the midst of a three game losing streak, losing their last game 5-2 San Jose Sharks. This is the team’s longest losing streak in 18 months, and they haven’t lost four games in a row since 2009.

In the past 17 years the Devils have won nine Atlantic Division titles and three Stanley Cups while fighting for the top spot in the Eastern Conference. Unfortunately for the Devils, they are currently last in the league in scoring with only 17. With 35 goals allowed, they are also last in the league for that. Last season the Devils were unwilling to give up goals, only allowing 191 goals.

The Ducks have one goal tonight, and that is to beat the Devils in hopes of winning consecutive games for the first time this season. But the Devils will be working hard to stop them in order to escape their losing slump.

The New Jersey Devils will hit the ice against the Ducks at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California.

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On Thursday night the New Jersey Devils returned to Martin Brodeur’s hometown where the all-star goalie stopped 21 shots to make this his second shutout already this season.

For anyone still doubting Brodeur about his age, this 3-0 victory over the Montreal Canadiens sure sent them a clear message. The 38-year-old now has 112 shut outs to his name throughout his entire career, and nine total against the Canadiens.

On Thursday night at the Bell Centre the Devils ended their two-game losing steak, which was broken once again on Saturday night against the Buffalo Sabres. The Sabres easily beat the devils 6-1 by scoring early in the game, and continuing to make shots throughout the remaining periods.

The Devils are now tied for last in the Eastern Conference, and it’s about to get a bit more rough on them. Next they are facing six games in a row on the road. First they will face the Rangers just one day after Ilya Kovalchuk is a healthy scratch.

The New Jersey Devils are planning on stepping their game up while on the road, and will being by playing their next game in New York against the Rangers on Sunday, October 24, 2010.

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The New Jersey Devils have made numerous changes in the off season including losing a head coach to retirement, hiring a new head coach, and signing a contract of high controversy with a new star player.

New Jersey coach Jacques Lemaire stepped down last spring after a disappointing opening round of the playoffs. The seventh seed Philadelphia Flyers beat the Devils in five games, and then went on to compete in the Stanley Cup Finals.

John MacLean will be the new head coach of the Devils, and a lot of people are convinced that he will change their focus. The Devils haven’t had many alterations made to their defensive system recently, which showed during the playoffs. People believe MacLean will be the coach to turn the team’s attention to defense, rather than offense.

And of course Ilya Kovalchuk’s 17-year, $102 million turned 15-year, $100 million contract after being rejected by the NHL for attempting to circumvent the league’s salary cap will create a major change for the Devils. With Kovalchuk and Zach Parise in the left wing they are sure to be a powerhouse, as they are two of the best young players in the NHL. After being fined $3 million and losing two future draft pics, the team sure hopes Kovalchuk will help them become a serious candidate to enter the Stanley Cup Playoffs

The New Jersey Devils will host their next game against the Dallas Stars on Friday, October 8, 2010.

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All eyes will be focused on Ilya Kovalchuk for at least the beginning of this hockey season due to his controversial 15-year, $100 million contract that he landed with the New Jersey Devils. Adding him to the roster was not an easy task, but after all of the contract complications in the off-season Kovalchuk finally received his chance to show the New Jersey Devils that it was all worth it. And Kovalchuk did not disappoint.

On Tuesday night he helped the Devils beat the Philadelphia Flyers in a 3-2 preseason victory. It was late in the third period, and the score was 2-1 Flyers when Kovalchuk drew a penalty on Ben Holmstrom. Just 55 seconds after the penalty took effect, Travis Zajac scored the tying goal for New Jersey. After that, Kovalchuk made the Devils happy when he scored a the final rising shot over goalie Brian Boucher.

The Devils showed much discipline this game as they only committed two minor penalties. Martin Brodeur stopped 26 of 28 shots, including many tough saves. Overall the Devils started off slow, but showed improvement as the game went on.

After this game the Flyers fell to 3-1-1 while the Devils are 1-0-3 in the preseason. The New Jersey Devils will play their next preseason game on Friday, October 1, 2010 against the New York Islanders.

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After reworking the contract, and months of controversy regarding Ilya Kovalchuk’s 17-year, $102 million deal with the New Jersey Devils, the NHL finally approved the new contract earlier this month. Unfortunately for the Devils, the league did not let them off easy for attempting to circumvent the NHL’s salary cap.

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman provided the devils with a penalty by fining them $3 million, and taking away two future draft picks. The draft picks the Devils lost includes a third-rounder for next year, and a first-rounder that they can choose sometime over the next four years.

The punishment justly comes from the $102 million contract that the Devils extended to three-time All-Star. The league rejected the contract due to the violation of the team payroll limits. On September 3, the NHL approved a new contract that the Devils made with Kovalchuk. The new contract is a much more reasonable 15-year, $100 million deal.

The president of the Devils, Lou Lamoriello completely disagreed with Bettman’s decision to punish the team, and he insists that they did nothing wrong.

Regardless of all the contract drama, the New Jersey Devils will play their first preseason game on Tuesday, September, 21 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia against their rivals, the Flyers.

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After first being rejected in mid-July, and then being reworked, the NHL has finally accepted Ilya Kovalchuk’s 15-year, $100 million deal with New Jersey Devils. Early Saturday morning the NHL and its players’ association agreed that Kovalchuk’s contract with the Devils would be accepted by the league.

The contract was originally dismissed by the league due to the fact that they thought it intentionally circumvented the salary cap. After the contract was reworked, and the NHL took careful look at it, the league finally approved it early Saturday morning.

The original rejected contract would have extended through until he was 44. Kovalchuk’s new contract will now be in effect past his 36th birthday when it will be accounted differently under the salary cap of the NHL.

The new contract closes the loophole in the collective bargaining agreement which allows teams in the NHL to pay a player more money up front when the player is usually a better asset to the team, and when the player is likely to have retired the team would then pay the player less

Two months after becoming the most sought-after free agent of the NHL, Kovalchuk has finally officially been signed to New Jersey. The New Jersey Devils will play their first preseason game at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania against the Flyers.

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Ilya Kovalchuk’s arbitration hearing over the validity of his 17-year, $102 million contract with the New Jersey Devils will begin on Wednesday in Boston. Kovalchuk is expected to attend the hearing, which will will continue on to Thursday. A decision is not expected to be reached until Monday.

Since Kovalchuk will be attending the hearing, it is likely that he will be called to testify. Others who may be called to testify include Kovalchuk’s agent Jay Grossman, and officials from both the NHL and the Devils.

The hearing is being held to determine whether or not the NHL was correct when they rejected the contract that Kovalchuk signed with the devils last month, or if the contract does not comply with the collective bargaining agreement.

If Richard Bloch, the arbitrator chosen for this hearing, decides to stick with the NHL’s decision in rejecting the contract, Kovalchuk will then become a unrestricted free agent, and the Devils may be fined. However, if Bloch does in fact rule in favor of the contact, it will then be authorized by the league.

The New Jersey Devils will play their first preseason game against the Flyers on Tuesday, September 21, 2010 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

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Not long after the New Jersey Devils and Ilya Kovalchuk agreed to an astounding 17-year, $102 million contract, the NHL rejected the deal. Just one day after agreeing to the longest contract in the history of the NHL, the league dealt a shameful blow to the Devils and Kovalchuk.

The NHL said the contract was used as a way to get around the salary cap for the league. The NHL sent the contract back to the Devils, where general manager Lou Lamoriello will have to rework the contract in order to satisfy the NHL and Kovalchuk all over again.

In the NHL, teams will pay a player more money up front when the player is usually a better asset to the team, and when the player is likely to have retired the team would then pay the player less. The Devils took advantage of this, as the majority of Kovalchuk’s contract would have been paid during the first 10 years of his 17-year long contract.

They would pay him $95 million during the first ten years, and during his last six seasons he would have been paid less than $1 million. The issue for the NHL was that the contract was formulated to where Kovalchuk’s cap would have been brought down to just $6 million a season for the devils.

The New Jersey Devils will play their first preseason game at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia against the Flyers on Tuesday, September 21, 2010.

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The New Jersey Devils announced that they have hired a new head coach. The new head coach of the franchise is John MacLean, the all time leading goal scorer for the Devils. MacLean was the player who scored the game winning goal that entered the Devils into the playoffs for their first time. He was also on the team when they won their first Stanley Cup in 1995.

The hiring of MacLean came after Lou Lamoriello, the Devils’ general manager decided he was not ready to make any alterations to the current defensive system, even though they have been struggling in the playoffs. For example, since 2003 when the Devils won their last Stanley Cup they have only been successful in winning two playoff series. That’s where the hiring of MacLean comes into play, as he knows a great deal about the system. He will replace Jacques Lemaire who coached New Jersey for one season before his unexpected retirement.

MacLean has played 18 season in the National Hockey League. He scored 347 goals for the Devils, and a total of 413 with the Sharks, Rangers, Stars, and Devils combined before retiring after the 2001-2002 season. John MacLean has been teammates with multiple current Devils players including Martin Brodeur, Brian Rolston, Partrik Elias, and two others.

The New Jersey Devils have high hopes that MacLean will help the Devils after three first-round playoff exits. Get your New Jersey Devils tickets from Select A Ticket now!

When the New Jersey Devils won Sunday’s game against the Buffalo Sabres they also earned the number two playoff seed in the Eastern Conference. The game was tied with three seconds left in regulation and Jamie Langenbrunner took a pass from Zach Parise. Langenbrunner then turned that pass into the game winning goal.

In order for the Sabres to have attained the number two seed they needed to win this game in regulation time. Since this was the case, they wanted an extra skater on the ice to increase their chances of scoring a goal. They pulled Patick Lalime, their goalie, with 10 seconds to go, but that plan fell flat when Langenbrunner scored on an empty net in the last few seconds of the game.

The NHL’s most winningest goalie, Martin Brodeur stopped 22 shots, but it only took one goal for him to earn his fifth William M. Jennings Trophy for fewest goals allowed. In fact this season New Jersey only gave up 191 goals this season, which is an NHL low.

The New Jersey Devils will face the seventh-seed Philadelphia Flyers in the first round of the playoffs. The Flyers are New Jersey’s long time rivals, and have beat them in five out of six games during this season.

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The New Jersey Devils secured their spot in the postseason for their 13th consecutive season which began in 1997. They clinched their playoff berth by beating the Montreal Canadiens4-2  for the fourth straight time in Montreal on Saturday Night. The Devils and the Pittsburgh Penguins both have 93 points, and are now in a tie for first place in the Atlantic Division.

The Devils could not have done it without their superstar goalie Martin Brodeur. He has been with New Jersey for all 13 postseason appearances. Saturday night was his 41st victory of the season. Brodeur was unbeatable in the third, and made 25 saves throughout the game.

The players who scored New Jersey’s four points on Saturday night were Patrik Elias, Jamie Langenbrunner, Dainius Zubrus, and Brian Rolston. The Devils took an early lead when Elias scored in the first on a power play, as well as Langenbrunner who scored at the beginning of the second period. Zubrus deflected a shot at the end of the second to give the Devils another point. Brian Rolston scored into an empty net with seconds left in the game, as he recorded his 700th career point.

The New Jersey Devils will play their next game in Philadelphia against the Flyers on Sunday, March 28, 2010.

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On Friday night the New Jersey Devils beat the Pittsburgh Penguins for the fifth straight time. The Devils beat the current Stanley Cup Champions 3-1 with the help of Ilya Kovalchuk who is responsible for one goal and two assists in the game.

After joining New Jersey in a trade in early February, Kovalchuk only had three goals and five assists in his first 10 games as a Devil. In Friday’s game he assisted Andy Greene and Patrik Elias in the Devils’ first two goals, and even made one of his own for his 35th goal this season.

During the five game run of wins against the Penguins, the Devils have outscored them 16-3. New Jersey is now within two points of being in first place in the Atlantic Division, which is where the Penguins currently stand. As the NHL regular season slowly comes to an end, the New Jersey Devils find themselves in a great position for the playoffs.

The New Jersey Devils will play their next game against the Boston Bruins on March 15, 2010.

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After a two week Olympic break the New Jersey Devils returned to the ice with a victory. On Tuesday night the Devils beat the San Jose Sharks 4-3. The game featured a total of 13 players who participated in the Olympic games, three of which were from the devils.

The Devils’ captain, Jamie Langenbrunner was a part of the USA silver medal winning team as was Zach Parise. In the first quarter of Tuesday’s game Parise was praised during a video tribute to all olympians because he scored the tying goal in the last minute of Canada’s win over USA. New Jersey’s goalie, Martin Brodeur also played in the Olympics, and earned the gold medal while playing on the Canadian team.

In the first game after the Olympics, Zach Parise made two assists, and his teammate Jamie Langenbrunner made one assist as well. In the beginning of the game Martin Brodeur barely even got a chance to show his stuff. The Sharks were unable to get past Brodeur until the third period where they made three goals in under three minutes. But those three goals were not enough to surpass the Devils.

The New Jersey Devils will suit up and hit the ice up next on Friday, March 5, 2010 against the Calgary Flames.

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