2002–03 New Jersey Devils season

The 2002–03 New Jersey Devils season was the team's 21st season of operation since the franchise relocated to New Jersey.

The team finished in 2nd place in the Eastern Conference and 3rd in the Atlantic Division Division with a record of 46–20–10–6. After claiming the Atlantic Division and Eastern Conference titles, the Devils won their third Stanley Cup championship in a seven-game series against the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim.

Team Information

• General Manager: Lou Lamoriello
• Coach: Pat Burns
• Assistant Coaches: Bobby Carpenter, John MacLean
• Goalie Coach: Jacques Caron
• Captain: Scott Stevens
• Assistant Captains: Patrik Elias, Scott Niedermayer
• Arena: Continental Airlines Arena
• Average attendance: 14,858

Regular season

The Devils tied the Philadelphia Flyers for fewest goals allowed (166) and had the fewest power-play opportunities against (264), the fewest power-play goals against (32) and the best penalty-kill percentage (87.88%). The Devils also tied the Detroit Red Wings, Los Angeles Kings and Washington Capitals for fewest short-handed goals allowed, with four. Furthermore, the Devils also had the fewest power-play opportunities for (303), the fewest power-play goals for (36) and the lowest power-play percentage, at 11.88%.

• January 17, 2003: Joe Nieuwendyk scored his 500th career goal against the Carolina Hurricanes in a 2–1 Devils victory. He then recorded his 1,000th career point on February 23 in a win over the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Season standings

Atlantic Division
No.	CR		GP	W	L	T	OTL	GF	GA	Pts
1	2	New Jersey Devils	82	46	20	10	6	216	166	108
2	4	Philadelphia Flyers
3	8	New York Islanders
4	9	New York Rangers
5	14	Pittsburgh Penguins

Note: CR = Conference rank; GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; OTL = Overtime loss; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; Pts = Points

        Bolded teams qualified for the playoffs.

Eastern Conference
R		Div	GP	W	L	T	OTL	GF	GA	Pts
1	P – Ottawa Senators	NE
2	Y – New Jersey Devils	AT	82	46	20	10	6	216	166	108
3	Y – Tampa Bay Lightning	SE
4	X – Philadelphia Flyers	AT
5	X – Toronto Maple Leafs	NE
6	X – Washington Capitals	SE
7	X – Boston Bruins	NE
8	X – New York Islanders	AT
9	New York Rangers	AT
10	Montreal Canadiens	NE
11	Atlanta Thrashers	SE
12	Buffalo Sabres	NE
13	Florida Panthers	SE
14	Pittsburgh Penguins	AT
15	Carolina Hurricanes	SE

Divisions: AT – Atlantic, NE – Northeast, SE – Southeast

P – Clinched Presidents Trophy; Y – Clinched Division; X – Clinched Playoff spot

Playoffs

Eastern Conference Quarterfinals

(E2) New Jersey Devils vs. (E7) Boston Bruins

The series opened at Continental Airlines Arena in New Jersey, and game one was a defensive battle in an ultimate 2–1 Devils victory behind two goals from Jamie Langenbrunner. New Jersey then took control of the series with a 4–2 victory in Game 2.

Down 2–0 in the series but heading home to FleetCenter, Boston shook things up, replacing Steve Shields, who allowed six goals in the first two games, in favor of Jeff Hackett. The shakeup did not do much, as the Devils shut out in the Bruins in Game 3, 3–0, with goalie Martin Brodeur stopping all 29 shots he faced. In game 4, Ken Daneyko was a healthy scratch and did not play that game. It was the first time in his career that he was a healthy scratch in the playoffs. Not wanting to end their season with a winless postseason and a loss in front of their fans, Boston came out firing by winning the game, 5–1 and knocking out Brodeur after the fifth goal in favor of Corey Schwab, who went six-for-six in net.

Unfortunately for the Bruins and their fans, they had only "stayed their execution" until game five in New Jersey, where Brodeur bounced back from his horrid Game 4 with a 28-save shutout in a 3–0 win as Langenbrunner added two more goals.

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Eastern Conference Semifinals

(E2) New Jersey Devils vs. (E3) Tampa Bay Lightning

The series opened at Continental Airlines Arena in New Jersey, where the Devils scored three third-period goals to break a scoreless tie en route to a 3–0 game one victory with goalie Martin Brodeur posting a 15-save shutout in the process. Game two was a little tenser, with New Jersey rallying from a third-period deficit and winning the game 2:09 into overtime, 3–2, on a goal by Jamie Langenbrunner.

In game three at St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa, the Lightning jumped out to a 3–0 first-period lead. Then, Scott Stevens was injured by a puck that hit him in the face from a slapshot by Pavel Kubina. Following that, New Jersey tied the score before scoring in the third period on a goal by Dave Andreychuk to win the game, 4–3 for Tampa. Stevens recovered and returned for game four, and the Devils responded by winning, 3–1, to push the Lightning to the brink. The Devils ended the series with a 2–1 triple-overtime victory in game five, with Grant Marshall scoring the game-winning goal 11:12 into the sixth period.

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Eastern Conference Finals

(E1) Ottawa Senators vs. (E2) New Jersey Devils

The series opened at Corel Centre in Ottawa, where the Senators took game one in overtime, 3–2, when Shaun Van Allen tipped in a pass from Martin Havlát 3:08 into overtime. New Jersey tied the series, 1–1, with a crucial victory in game two, 4–1. It marked the first time Ottawa goalie Patrick Lalime allowed more than two goals in twelve postseason games.

Game three at the Continental Airlines Arena in New Jersey saw an amazing defensive battle, but New Jersey won the game, 1–0, on a first-period goal by Sergei Brylin. Martin Brodeur posted a 24-save shutout for the Devils in the process. New Jersey appeared to have the series in control when they broke a 2–2 tie in game four with three third-period goals en route to a 5–2 win, and they led in the series, 3–1. But, it wasn't over yet, as Minnesota (twice) and Vancouver rebounded from 3–1 series deficits earlier in the playoffs.

Ottawa returned home for game five, not wanting to lose in front of their fans. They staved off elimination with a 3–1 victory. The tense action resumed back in New Jersey for game six, as the teams entered overtime tied, 1–1, and all the Devils needed was a goal to knock out the Senators. The death blow did not come in game six, as Chris Phillips scored the game-winning goal 15:52 into overtime in the 2–1 Senators victory. This would be the Devils only home loss of the playoffs.

Determined not to suffer the same misfortunes as Colorado, St. Louis, and Vancouver, the Devils broke through in game seven, winning the game, 3–2, as Jeff Friesen knocked in the series-winning goal with just over two minutes to play to send New Jersey to the Stanley Cup Finals. In the decisive game, the Devils benefited from a two-goal performance by Jamie Langenbrunner, his first goals of the series.

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Stanley Cup Finals

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For the Devils, this was their fourth Stanley Cup Finals appearance, after making the Finals previously in 1995, 2000, and 2001. As for the Mighty Ducks, it was their first ever Stanley Cup Finals appearance in franchise history after defeating the Detroit Red Wings, Dallas Stars, and Minnesota Wild. The Devils had a strong start in game one at the Meadowlands as they shut out the Ducks 3–0. Game two was pretty much Deja Vu for the Devils as they once again blanked the Ducks 3–0. Down 2–0 in the series, the Ducks responded at home in Anaheim with a 3–2 overtime victory. Then, in game four, Anaheim tied the series at two in a 1–0 overtime win. Back at the Meadowlands, game five was much more competitive and high tempo. While both teams went back and forth with three goals each, the Devils would add three more goals to win 6–3. Facing elimination in game six, the Ducks did not disappoint their fans as they won game six 5–2. However, during that game, Scott Stevens laid a vicious check on Paul Kariya, knocking him to the ground. Kariya quickly recovered and scored the game-winning goal, tying the series at three games apiece. The Devils ended the series with an exclamation mark as they shut out the Ducks 3–0 once more to capture their third Stanley Cup championship in nine seasons. While the Devils did win the cup, Jean-Sébastien Giguère of Anaheim won the Conn Smythe Trophy, making it the first time in sixteen years that a player from the losing team won the Conn Smythe Trophy.

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Player statistics

Regular season

Scoring

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	+/-	PPG	SHG	GWG
Elias, PatrikPatrik Elias	LW	81	28	29	57	22	17	6	0	4
Langenbrunner, JamieJamie Langenbrunner	RW	78	22	33	55	65	17	5	1	5
Gomez, ScottScott Gomez	C	80	13	42	55	48	17	2	0	4
Friesen, JeffJeff Friesen	LW	81	23	28	51	26	23	3	0	4
Nieuwendyk, JoeJoe Nieuwendyk	C	80	17	28	45	56	10	3	0	4
Madden, JohnJohn Madden	C	80	19	22	41	26	13	2	2	3
Rafalski, BrianBrian Rafalski	D	79	3	37	40	14	18	2	0	0
Niedermayer, ScottScott Niedermayer	D	81	11	28	39	62	23	3	0	3
Gionta, BrianBrian Gionta	RW	58	12	13	25	23	5	2	0	3
Stevenson, TurnerTurner Stevenson	RW	77	7	13	20	115	7	0	0	0
Stevens, ScottScott Stevens	D	81	4	16	20	41	18	0	0	2
Brylin, SergeiSergei Brylin	LW	52	11	8	19	16	-2	3	1	1
Pandolfo, JayJay Pandolfo	LW	68	6	11	17	23	12	0	1	4
Tverdovsky, OlegOleg Tverdovsky	D	50	5	8	13	22	2	2	0	1
White, ColinColin White	D	72	5	8	13	98	19	0	0	1
McKenzie, JimJim McKenzie	LW	76	4	8	12	88	3	0	0	2
Bicek, JiriJiri Bicek	RW	44	5	6	11	25	7	1	0	1
Berglund, ChristianChristian Berglund	LW	38	4	5	9	20	3	0	0	0
Daneyko, KenKen Daneyko	D	69	2	7	9	33	6	0	0	0
Rupp, MikeMike Rupp	C	26	5	3	8	21	0	2	0	3
Albelin, TommyTommy Albelin	D	37	1	6	7	6	10	0	1	0
Rheaume, PascalPascal Rheaume	C	21	4	1	5	8	3	0	1	1
Marshall, GrantGrant Marshall	RW	10	1	3	4	7	-3	0	0	0
Danton, MikeMike Danton	C	17	2	0	2	35	0	0	0	0
Guolla, SteveSteve Guolla	C	12	2	0	2	2	1	0	0	0
Smehlik, RichardRichard Smehlik	D	12	0	2	2	0	-1	0	0	0
Darby, CraigCraig Darby	C	3	0	1	1	0	-1	0	0	0
Giroux, RaymondRaymond Giroux	D	11	0	1	1	6	-2	0	0	0
Zyuzin, AndreiAndrei Zyuzin	D	1	0	1	1	2	-1	0	0	0
Brodeur, MartinMartin Brodeur	G	73	0	0	0	10	0	0	0	0
Schwab, CoreyCorey Schwab	G	11	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	T/OT	GA	GAA	SO	SA	SV	SV%
Brodeur, MartinMartin Brodeur	4374	73	41	23	9	147	2.02	9	1706	1559	.914
Schwab, CoreyCorey Schwab	614	11	5	3	1	15	1.47	1	223	208	.933
Team:	4988	82	46	26	10	162	1.95	10	1929	1767	.916

Playoffs

Scoring

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG
Langenbrunner, JamieJamie Langenbrunner	RW	24	11	7	18	16	1	0	4
Niedermayer, ScottScott Niedermayer	D	24	2	16	18	16	1	0	0
Madden, JohnJohn Madden	C	24	6	10	16	2	2	1	1
Friesen, JeffJeff Friesen	LW	24	10	4	14	6	1	0	4
Elias, PatrikPatrik Elias	LW	24	5	8	13	26	2	0	2
Pandolfo, JayJay Pandolfo	LW	24	6	6	12	2	0	0	1
Gomez, ScottScott Gomez	C	24	3	9	12	2	0	0	0
Rafalski, BrianBrian Rafalski	D	23	2	9	11	8	2	0	0
Nieuwendyk, JoeJoe Nieuwendyk	C	17	3	6	9	4	1	0	0
Stevens, ScottScott Stevens	D	24	3	6	9	14	1	0	1
Gionta, BrianBrian Gionta	RW	24	1	8	9	6	0	0	0
Marshall, GrantGrant Marshall	RW	24	6	2	8	8	2	0	1
White, ColinColin White	D	24	0	5	5	29	0	0	0
Brylin, SergeiSergei Brylin	LW	19	1	3	4	8	0	0	1
Rupp, MikeMike Rupp	C	4	1	3	4	0	0	0	1
Rheaume, PascalPascal Rheaume	C	24	1	2	3	13	0	0	0
Tverdovsky, OlegOleg Tverdovsky	D	15	0	3	3	0	0	0	0
Stevenson, TurnerTurner Stevenson	RW	14	1	1	2	26	0	0	0
Albelin, TommyTommy Albelin	D	16	1	0	1	2	0	0	0
Brodeur, MartinMartin Brodeur	G	24	0	1	1	6	0	0	0
Bicek, JiriJiri Bicek	RW	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Daneyko, KenKen Daneyko	D	13	0	0	0	2	0	0	0
McKenzie, JimJim McKenzie	LW	13	0	0	0	14	0	0	0
Schwab, CoreyCorey Schwab	G	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Smehlik, RichardRichard Smehlik	D	5	0	0	0	2	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	GA	GAA	SO	SA	SV	SV%
Brodeur, MartinMartin Brodeur	1491	24	16	8	41	1.65	7	622	581	.934
Schwab, CoreyCorey Schwab	28	2	0	0	0	0.00	0	8	8	1.000
Team:	1519	24	16	8	41	1.62	7	630	589	.935

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/- = Plus/minus; PIM = Penalty minutes; PPG = Power-play goals; SHG = Short-handed goals; GWG = Game-winning goals
      MIN = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T/OT = Ties/overtime losses; GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals against average; SO = Shutouts; SA = Shots against; SV = Shots saved; SV% = Save percentage;

Awards and records

Awards

Regular Season
Player	Award	Awarded
Martin Brodeur	Vezina Trophy	End of regular season
Martin Brodeur	William Jennings Trophy	End of regular season
Martin Brodeur	NHL First All-Star Team - Goaltender	End of regular season

Nominations

Regular Season
Player	Award	Place
Martin Brodeur	Hart Memorial Trophy	Finalist
John Madden	Frank J. Selke Trophy	Runner-Up

53rd NHL All-Star Game

New Jersey Devils NHL All-Star representatives at the 53rd NHL All-Star Game in Sunrise, Florida, at the Office Depot Center.

• Martin Brodeur, G, (Eastern Conference All-Stars)
• Scott Stevens, D, (Eastern Conference All-Stars), Captain, Starter

Draft picks

The Devils' draft picks at the 2002 NHL Entry Draft at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario.

Rd #	Pick #	Player	Nat	Pos	Team (League)	Notes
1	20	No first-round pick
2	51	Anton Kadeykin	Template:Flagu	D	Elemash Elektrostal (Vysshaya Liga)
2	53	Barry Tallackson	Template:Flagu	RW	University of Minnesota (WCHA)
3	64	Jason Ryznar	Template:Flagu	LW	University of Michigan (CCHA)
3	84	Marek Chvatal	Template:Flagcountry	D	Oceláři Třinec (Czech Extraliga)
3	85	Ahren Nittel	Template:Flagcountry	LW	Windsor Spitfires (OHL)
4	117	Cam Janssen	Template:Flagu	RW	Windsor Spitfires (OHL)
5	154	Krisjanis Redlihs	Template:Flagcountry	D	Liepājas Metalurgs (Latvian Hockey League)
6	187	Eric Johansson	Template:Flagcountry	C	Tri-City Americans (WHL)
7	218	Ilkka Pikkarainen	Template:Flagcountry	RW	HIFK (SM-liiga)
8	250	Dan Glover	Template:Flagcountry	D	Camrose Kodiaks (AJHL)
9	281	Bill Kinkel	Template:Flagu	LW	Kitchener Rangers (OHL)

Roster

2002–03 New Jersey Devils
Goaltenders Template:Hockey team player Template:Hockey team player		Defensemen Template:Hockey team player Template:Hockey team player Template:Hockey team player – C Template:Hockey team player Template:Country data SWE Template:Hockey team player Template:Hockey team player Template:Country data RUS Template:Hockey team player Template:Country data RUS Template:Hockey team player Template:Hockey team player Template:Hockey team player		Wingers Template:Hockey team player Template:Country data SVK Template:Hockey team player Template:Hockey team player Template:Hockey team player Template:Hockey team player Template:Country data SWE Template:Hockey team player Template:Country data RUS Template:Hockey team player Template:Hockey team player Template:Hockey team player Template:Hockey team player Template:Hockey team player Template:Hockey team player		Centers Template:Hockey team player Template:Hockey team player Template:Hockey team player Template:Hockey team player Template:Hockey team player Template:Hockey team player Template:Hockey team player GM: Lou Lamoriello Coach: Pat Burns

See also

• 2002–03 NHL season

References

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• "New Jersey Devils game log". ESPN. http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/teams/schedule?team=nj&season=2003. Retrieved 2007-06-24. 
• "2002-03 Team Standings". ESPN. http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/standings?season=2003. Retrieved 2007-06-24. 
• "2002-03 Player Statistics". hockeyDB. Archived from the original on 2 July 2007. https://web.archive.org/web/20070702043657/http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/leagues/seasons/teams/0000512003.html. Retrieved 2007-06-24. 
• "NHL attendance". ESPN. http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/attendance?year=2003. Retrieved 2007-06-24. 
• "Devils team photo". NewJerseyDevils. http://www.newjerseydevils.com/njd/history/teamphotos/1280/02-03.jpg. Retrieved 2007-06-24. Template:Cbignore

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