2005–06 New Jersey Devils season

The 2005–06 New Jersey Devils season was the team's 23rd in the National Hockey League since the franchise moved to New Jersey. It was the team's first season back after the NHL canceled the previous season, due to the 2004–05 NHL lockout. The Devils rallied from a poor first half of the season to win the Atlantic Division title on the last day of the season. For the first time, the Devils defeated the New York Rangers in a playoff series, sweeping their rivals in their opening-round matchup.
==Season overview==
Many of the Devils' players had played in other leagues while the National Hockey League was inactive due to the lockout. Most notably was Patrik Elias, who missed the first 39 games of the season due to catching Hepatitis A while playing for the Metallurg Magnitogorsk of the Russian Super League. With many new rule changes for the 2005-06 season, the Devils had to change their style of play. Martin Brodeur, one of the best puck-handling goalies, could no longer use this to his advantage as before, since restrictions were placed on where goalies could handle the puck. The Devils also lost long-time captain Scott Stevens and his physically punishing style of play to retirement, as well as another longtime defenseman Scott Niedermayer to free agency. Eventually, he joined the Anaheim Mighty Ducks, playing alongside his brother, Rob Niedermayer. 
In July 2005, the team announced that head coach Pat Burns would not return for the season after being diagnosed with cancer for the second time in little more than a year. Assistant coach Larry Robinson, the team's head coach from 2000 to 2002, was promoted to start the season.
On September 16, 2005, longtime Devils owner John McMullen passed away. In honor of his memory, the Devils jerseys had a small "JM" patch on them. 
The Devils struggled early in the 2005–06 season, ending the 2005 calendar year with a 16-18-5 record. Robinson resigned as head coach on December 19, and Lamoriello moved down to the bench. Once Elias returned from his bout with hepatitis, the team quickly turned around with a 9-game winning streak, finishing 46-27-9 after a season-ending eleven-game winning streak capped with a dramatic 4-3 win over the Montreal Canadiens. During that final victory, which clinched the Devils' sixth division title, Brian Gionta set a new team record for goals in a season with 48, topping Pat Verbeek's 46. The win streak to close the year was also an NHL record.
On April 29, 2006, the Devils won their first round Stanley Cup playoff series against the New York Rangers four games to none, extending their winning streak to fifteen games and marking the first time the Devils defeated their cross-river rival in a playoff series. The team's season ended in the next round with an 4-1 Game 5 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes, who eventually won the Stanley Cup.
==Regular season==
===Season standings===
===Game log===
No.	R	Date 	Score 	Opponent 	Record
1 	W	October 7, 2005 	5–1 OT	Pittsburgh Penguins (2005–06) 	1–0–0
2 	L	October 7, 2005 	2–5 	@ Philadelphia Flyers (2005–06) 	1–1–0
3 	W	October 8, 2005 	3–2 OT	New York Rangers (2005–06) 	2–1–0
4 	L	October 13, 2005 	1–4 	@ New York Rangers (2005–06) 	2–2–0
5 	L	October 15, 2005 	1–6 	Carolina Hurricanes (2005–06) 	2–3–0
6 	W	October 18, 2005 	4–3 	Florida Panthers (2005–06) 	3–3–0
7 	W	October 20, 2005 	6–3 	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (2005–06) 	4–3–0
8 	L	October 22, 2005 	3–4 	@ Atlanta Thrashers (2005–06) 	4–4–0
9 	L	October 26, 2005 	3–6 	Tampa Bay Lightning (2005–06) 	4–5–0
10 	W	October 28, 2005 	3–2 	Buffalo Sabres (2005–06) 	5–5–0
11 	W	October 29, 2005 	5–4 SO	@ Boston Bruins (2005–06) 	6–5–0
12 	L	November 1, 2005 	3–4 OT	Pittsburgh Penguins (2005–06) 	6–5–1
13 	L	November 3, 2005 	2–4 	New York Rangers (2005–06) 	6–6–1
14 	L	November 5, 2005 	2–3 SO	@ New York Rangers (2005–06) 	6–6–2
15 	L	November 8, 2005 	1–4 	New York Islanders (2005–06) 	6–7–2
16 	W	November 11, 2005	4–3 	@ Washington Capitals (2005–06) 	7–7–2
17 	W	November 12, 2005	3–2 	Washington Capitals (2005–06) 	8–7–2
18 	L	November 15, 2005	1–4 	@ Buffalo Sabres (2005–06) 	8–8–2
19 	W	November 18, 2005	5–3 	Montreal Canadiens (2005–06) 	9–8–2
20 	L	November 19, 2005	4–5 	@ Ottawa Senators (2005–06) 	9–9–2
21 	W	November 23, 2005	5–1 	@ Florida Panthers (2005–06) 	10–9–2
22 	W	November 25, 2005	8–2 	@ Tampa Bay Lightning (2005–06) 	11–9–2
23 	W	November 29, 2005	3–2 	Boston Bruins (2005–06) 	12–9–2
24 	L	November 30, 2005	1–2 	@ Philadelphia Flyers (2005–06) 	12–10–2
25 	W	December 3, 2005 	3–2 SO	Minnesota Wild (2005–06) 	13–10–2
26 	L	December 6, 2005 	2–5 	@ Detroit Red Wings (2005–06) 	13–11–2
27 	L	December 7, 2005 	1–4 	Calgary Flames (2005–06) 	13–12–2
28 	L	December 9, 2005 	3–4 SO	Colorado Avalanche (2005–06) 	13–12–3
29 	L	December 11, 2005	2–3 OT	@ Columbus Blue Jackets (2005–06)	13–12–4
30 	W	December 13, 2005	2–1 SO	Edmonton Oilers (2005–06) 	14–12–4
31 	L	December 15, 2005	2–3 OT	Atlanta Thrashers (2005–06) 	14–12–5
32 	L	December 17, 2005	1–4 	@ Carolina Hurricanes (2005–06) 	14–13–5
33 	W	December 20, 2005	3–1 	@ New York Rangers (2005–06) 	15–13–5
34 	L	December 21, 2005	2–4 	@ New York Islanders (2005–06) 	15–14–5
35 	L	December 23, 2005	0–1 	Atlanta Thrashers (2005–06) 	15–15–5
36 	L	December 26, 2005	1–2 	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (2005–06) 	15–16–5
37 	W	December 28, 2005	7–2 	Washington Capitals (2005–06) 	16–16–5
38 	L	December 29, 2005	2–6 	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (2005–06) 	16–17–5
39 	L	December 31, 2005	3–6 	Toronto Maple Leafs (2005–06) 	16–18–5
40 	W	January 3, 2006 	3–0 	Florida Panthers (2005–06) 	17–18–5
41 	W	January 5, 2006 	5–4 	Montreal Canadiens (2005–06) 	18–18–5
42 	W	January 7, 2006 	3–2 	@ Buffalo Sabres (2005–06) 	19–18–5
43 	W	January 9, 2006 	3–0 	Philadelphia Flyers (2005–06) 	20–18–5
44 	W	January 13, 2006 	3–0 	Vancouver Canucks (2005–06) 	21–18–5
45 	W	January 15, 2006 	3–2 SO	@ Chicago Blackhawks (2005–06) 	22–18–5
46 	W	January 17, 2006 	5–3 	@ St. Louis Blues (2005–06) 	23–18–5
47 	W	January 19, 2006 	4–3 SO	@ Nashville Predators (2005–06) 	24–18–5
48 	W	January 21, 2006 	3–2 SO	New York Islanders (2005–06) 	25–18–5
49 	L	January 22, 2006 	1–3 	@ New York Rangers (2005–06) 	25–19–5
50 	W	January 24, 2006 	4–0 	@ New York Islanders (2005–06) 	26–19–5
51 	L	January 26, 2006 	0–1 OT	@ Tampa Bay Lightning (2005–06) 	26–19–6
52 	L	January 27, 2006 	0–4 	@ Florida Panthers (2005–06) 	26–20–6
53 	W	February 1, 2006 	5–3 	Ottawa Senators (2005–06) 	27–20–6
54 	W	February 3, 2006 	3–0 	Carolina Hurricanes (2005–06) 	28–20–6
55 	L	February 4, 2006 	2–4 	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (2005–06) 	28–21–6
56 	W	February 7, 2006 	7–4 	Tampa Bay Lightning (2005–06) 	29–21–6
57 	W	February 9, 2006 	3–2 OT	@ Boston Bruins (2005–06) 	30–21–6
58 	L	February 11, 2006	1–2 	New York Islanders (2005–06) 	30–22–6
59 	W	March 1, 2006 	2–1 SO	Philadelphia Flyers (2005–06) 	31–22–6
60 	L	March 2, 2006 	2–3 SO	@ New York Islanders (2005–06) 	31–22–7
61 	W	March 4, 2006 	2–1 	New York Rangers (2005–06) 	32–22–7
62 	L	March 7, 2006 	1–2 SO	@ New York Islanders (2005–06) 	32–22–8
63 	W	March 10, 2006 	4–3 SO	@ Washington Capitals (2005–06) 	33–22–8
64 	L	March 11, 2006 	3–6 	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (2005–06) 	33–23–8
65 	L	March 14, 2006 	1–6 	New York Islanders (2005–06) 	33–24–8
66 	W	March 16, 2006 	2–1 	Pittsburgh Penguins (2005–06) 	34–24–8
67 	L	March 19, 2006 	0–4 	Ottawa Senators (2005–06) 	34–25–8
68 	L	March 21, 2006 	1–2 	@ Philadelphia Flyers (2005–06) 	34–26–8
69 	L	March 23, 2006 	5–6 OT	@ Atlanta Thrashers (2005–06) 	34–26–9
70 	W	March 24, 2006 	4–2 	Boston Bruins (2005–06) 	35–26–9
71 	L	March 26, 2006 	3–4 	Toronto Maple Leafs (2005–06) 	35–27–9
72 	W	March 28, 2006 	3–2 SO	@ Ottawa Senators (2005–06) 	36–27–9
73 	W	March 30, 2006 	3–1 	Buffalo Sabres (2005–06) 	37–27–9
74 	W	April 1, 2006 	4–1 	@ Philadelphia Flyers (2005–06) 	38–27–9
75 	W	April 2, 2006 	3–2 OT	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (2005–06) 	39–27–9
76 	W	April 5, 2006 	6–4 	Pittsburgh Penguins (2005–06) 	40–27–9
77 	W	April 8, 2006 	3–2 	@ Montreal Canadiens (2005–06) 	41–27–9
78 	W	April 9, 2006 	3–2 	New York Rangers (2005–06) 	42–27–9
79 	W	April 11, 2006 	4–3 OT	@ Carolina Hurricanes (2005–06) 	43–27–9
80 	W	April 13, 2006 	4–1 	Philadelphia Flyers (2005–06) 	44–27–9
81 	W	April 16, 2006 	5–1 	Philadelphia Flyers (2005–06) 	45–27–9
82 	W	April 18, 2006 	4–3 	@ Montreal Canadiens (2005–06) 	46–27–9
==Playoffs==
====Eastern Conference Quarter-finals: vs. (6) New York Rangers====
New Jersey wins series 4–0
#	Date 	Visitor 	Score	Home 	OT	Decision	Attendance	Series
1	April 22	New York 	1 – 6	New Jersey	 	Brodeur 	19,040 	1 – 0
2	April 24	New York 	1 – 4	New Jersey	 	Brodeur 	19,040 	2 – 0
3	April 26	New Jersey	3 – 0	New York 	 	Brodeur 	18,200 	3 – 0
4	April 28	New Jersey	4 – 2	New York 	 	Brodeur 	18,200 	4 – 0
===Eastern Conference Semi-finals: vs. (2) Carolina Hurricanes===
Carolina wins series 4–1
#	Date 	Visitor 	Score	Home 	OT	Decision	Attendance	Series
1	May 6 	New Jersey	0 – 6	Carolina 	 	Brodeur 	18,730 	0 – 1
2	May 8 	New Jersey	2 – 3	Carolina 	OT	Brodeur 	18,730 	0 – 2
3	May 10	Carolina 	2 – 3	New Jersey	 	Brodeur 	16,862 	0 – 3
4	May 12	Carolina 	1 – 5	New Jersey	 	Brodeur 	17,585 	1 – 3
5	May 14	New Jersey	1 – 4	Carolina 	 	Brodeur 	18,730 	1 – 4
==Player stats==
===Regular season===
;Scoring
Player	Pos 	GP	G 	A 	Pts	PIM	+/-	PPG	SHG	GWG
 	RW 	82	48	41	89 	46 	18 	24 	1 	10
 	C 	82	33	51	84 	42 	8 	9 	0 	5
 	RW 	80	19	34	53 	74 	-1 	8 	1 	1
 	D 	82	6 	43	49 	36 	0 	3 	0 	2
 	LW 	38	16	29	45 	20 	11 	6 	0 	3
 	LW 	82	15	22	37 	46 	-4 	4 	0 	3
 	D 	80	5 	32	37 	32 	1 	3 	0 	0
 	C 	82	16	20	36 	36 	-7 	0 	1 	0
 	LW 	81	14	18	32 	28 	-1 	2 	0 	5
 	C 	69	12	13	25 	16 	0 	2 	0 	1
 	RW 	34	12	13	25 	6 	-7 	7 	0 	3
 	RW 	76	8 	17	25 	70 	-18	4 	0 	3
 	LW 	82	10	10	20 	16 	2 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	73	3 	14	17 	91 	-2 	1 	0 	1
 	D 	35	1 	11	12 	27 	-14	0 	0 	0
 	D 	62	1 	10	11 	40 	2 	0 	0 	0
 	LW/C	67	5 	5 	10 	32 	-4 	1 	0 	0
 	D 	29	4 	5 	9 	26 	-9 	3 	0 	0
 	D 	18	1 	7 	8 	8 	3 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	36	0 	6 	6 	2 	4 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	27	0 	6 	6 	36 	-5 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	38	0 	4 	4 	21 	5 	0 	0 	0
 	G 	73	0 	3 	3 	4 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	LW 	11	1 	1 	2 	10 	-1 	0 	0 	0
 	RW 	10	1 	1 	2 	2 	-2 	0 	0 	0
 	RW 	1 	1 	0 	1 	0 	-2 	1 	0 	0
 	C 	16	1 	0 	1 	38 	-1 	0 	0 	0
 	LW 	14	0 	1 	1 	22 	-3 	0 	0 	0
 	G 	13	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	RW 	47	0 	0 	0 	91 	-3 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	18	0 	0 	0 	14 	-3 	0 	0 	0
 	LW 	3 	0 	0 	0 	0 	-2 	0 	0 	0
 	C 	12	0 	0 	0 	4 	-6 	0 	0 	0
 	LW 	8 	0 	0 	0 	2 	-1 	0 	0 	0
;Goaltending
Player	MIN 	GP	W 	L 	T/OT	GA 	GAA 	SO	SA 	SV 	SV%
 	4365	73	43	23	7 	187	2.57	5 	2105	1918	.911
 	627 	13	3 	4 	2 	35 	3.35	0 	295 	260 	.881
Team: 	4992	82	46	27	9 	222	2.67	5 	2400	2178	.908
===Playoffs===
;Scoring
Player	Pos 	GP	G	A 	Pts	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG
 	LW 	9 	6	10	16 	4 	4 	0 	0
 	RW 	9 	3	10	13 	16 	1 	0 	1
 	C 	9 	5	4 	9 	6 	4 	0 	1
 	D 	9 	1	8 	9 	2 	1 	0 	0
 	RW 	9 	3	4 	7 	2 	1 	1 	2
 	C 	9 	4	1 	5 	8 	0 	2 	0
 	LW 	9 	1	4 	5 	0 	0 	1 	1
 	LW 	9 	1	2 	3 	2 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	9 	0	3 	3 	4 	0 	0 	0
 	LW 	9 	2	0 	2 	2 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	8 	0	2 	2 	12 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	6 	1	0 	1 	6 	0 	0 	0
 	RW 	7 	0	1 	1 	8 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	2 	0	0 	0 	2 	0 	0 	0
 	G 	9 	0	0 	0 	2 	0 	0 	0
 	G 	1 	0	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	RW 	9 	0	0 	0 	26 	0 	0 	0
 	C 	3 	0	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	9 	0	0 	0 	4 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	7 	0	0 	0 	4 	0 	0 	0
 	LW/C	9 	0	0 	0 	8 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	4 	0	0 	0 	4 	0 	0 	0
 	C 	8 	0	0 	0 	16 	0 	0 	0
;Goaltending
Player	MIN	GP	W	L	GA	GAA 	SO	SA 	SV 	SV%
 	533	9 	5	4	20	2.25	1 	261	241	.923
 	7 	1 	0	0	0 	0.00	0 	3 	3 	1.000
Team: 	540	9 	5	4	20	2.22	1 	264	244	.924
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==
==Transactions==
==Draft picks==
New Jersey's picks at the 2005 NHL Entry Draft at The Westin Ottawa in Ottawa, Canada.
Rd #	Pick #	Player 	Nat	Pos	Team (League) 	Notes
1 	23 	Nicklas Bergfors 	 	RW 	Sodertalje SK (Elitserien) 	
2 	38 	Jeff Frazee 	 	G 	U.S. Junior National Team 	
3 	84 	Mark Fraser 	 	D 	Kitchener Rangers (OHL) 	
4 	99 	Patrick Davis 	 	LW 	Kitchener Rangers (OHL) 	
5 	155 	Mark Fayne 	 	D 	Noble & Greenough School (Massachusetts)	
6 	170 	Sean Zimmerman 	 	D 	Spokane Chiefs (WHL) 	
7 	218 	Alexander Sundstrom	 	C 	IF Björklöven (Allsvenskan) 	
==See also==
*2005–06 NHL season
==References==
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==External links==
New Jersey Devils season, 2005–06
New Jersey Devils season, 2005–06
category:New Jersey Devils seasons