1998–99 New Jersey Devils season

The 1998–99 New Jersey Devils season was the team's 17th in the National Hockey League since the franchise relocated to New Jersey. Despite winning the Atlantic Division and being the top seed in the Eastern Conference, the Devils were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs. The Devils' 28 regular-season road wins were the most in the NHL.
==Regular season==
===Season standings===
===Game log===
No.	R	Date 	Score 	Opponent 	Record
1 	L	October 10, 1998 	1–2 	@ Chicago Blackhawks (1998–99) 	0–1–0
2 	L	October 14, 1998 	1–3 	Pittsburgh Penguins (1998–99) 	0–2–0
3 	W	October 16, 1998 	2–1 	@ New York Rangers (1998–99) 	1–2–0
4 	L	October 17, 1998 	2–4 	Edmonton Oilers (1998–99) 	1–3–0
5 	W	October 22, 1998 	3–2 	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1998–99) 	2–3–0
6 	W	October 24, 1998 	3–1 	Boston Bruins (1998–99) 	3–3–0
7 	L	October 28, 1998 	0–4 	Los Angeles Kings (1998–99) 	3–4–0
8 	W	October 29, 1998 	2–1 	@ New York Islanders (1998–99) 	4–4–0
9 	W	October 31, 1998 	3–1 	Florida Panthers (1998–99) 	5–4–0
10 	W	November 3, 1998 	3–1 	New York Rangers (1998–99) 	6–4–0
11 	W	November 7, 1998 	4–3 	@ Florida Panthers (1998–99) 	7–4–0
13 	W	November 11, 1998	3–0 	Montreal Canadiens (1998–99) 	8–5–0
14 	W	November 13, 1998	4–3 	Pittsburgh Penguins (1998–99) 	9–5–0
15 	L	November 14, 1998	1–6 	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1998–99) 	9–6–0
16 	W	November 19, 1998	3–2 OT	Carolina Hurricanes (1998–99) 	10–6–0
17 	T	November 21, 1998	3–3 OT	Florida Panthers (1998–99) 	10–6–1
18 	W	November 22, 1998	5–2 	@ Carolina Hurricanes (1998–99) 	11–6–1
19 	W	November 25, 1998	5–2 	@ Dallas Stars (1998–99) 	12–6–1
20 	L	November 26, 1998	2–3 	@ Phoenix Coyotes (1998–99) 	12–7–1
21 	W	November 28, 1998	3–2 	@ Colorado Avalanche (1998–99) 	13–7–1
22 	W	December 1, 1998 	4–0 	@ Washington Capitals (1998–99) 	14–7–1
23 	T	December 4, 1998 	1–1 OT	Montreal Canadiens (1998–99) 	14–7–2
24 	W	December 5, 1998 	7–5 	@ New York Islanders (1998–99) 	15–7–2
25 	T	December 8, 1998 	5–5 OT	Philadelphia Flyers (1998–99) 	15–7–3
26 	W	December 10, 1998	5–4 OT	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1998–99) 	16–7–3
27 	W	December 12, 1998	5–3 	Colorado Avalanche (1998–99) 	17–7–3
28 	W	December 16, 1998	6–3 	New York Rangers (1998–99) 	18–7–3
29 	L	December 18, 1998	2–5 	Calgary Flames (1998–99) 	18–8–3
30 	T	December 19, 1998	1–1 OT	@ Montreal Canadiens (1998–99) 	18–8–4
31 	W	December 23, 1998	4–2 	St. Louis Blues (1998–99) 	19–8–4
32 	L	December 26, 1998	0–2 	Buffalo Sabres (1998–99) 	19–9–4
33 	W	December 28, 1998	7–4 	@ Buffalo Sabres (1998–99) 	20–9–4
34 	W	December 30, 1998	3–2 	@ Washington Capitals (1998–99) 	21–9–4
35 	L	January 2, 1999 	0–6 	@ Ottawa Senators (1998–99) 	21–10–4
36 	T	January 5, 1999 	3–3 OT	San Jose Sharks (1998–99) 	21–10–5
37 	W	January 6, 1999 	5–2 	@ New York Rangers (1998–99) 	22–10–5
38 	L	January 9, 1999 	2–3 	Washington Capitals (1998–99) 	22–11–5
39 	L	January 11, 1999 	2–4 	Ottawa Senators (1998–99) 	22–12–5
40 	L	January 14, 1999 	2–3 	@ Ottawa Senators (1998–99) 	22–13–5
41 	W	January 15, 1999 	3–1 	Tampa Bay Lightning (1998–99) 	23–13–5
42 	L	January 18, 1999 	1–3 	@ San Jose Sharks (1998–99) 	23–14–5
43 	W	January 20, 1999 	4–3 	@ Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1998–99)	24–14–5
44 	W	January 21, 1999 	3–2 	@ Los Angeles Kings (1998–99) 	25–14–5
45 	W	January 26, 1999 	4–1 	Ottawa Senators (1998–99) 	26–14–5
46 	W	January 28, 1999 	2–0 	@ Boston Bruins (1998–99) 	27–14–5
47 	L	January 30, 1999 	2–3 OT	Nashville Predators (1998–99) 	27–15–5
48 	T	February 1, 1999 	2–2 OT	Detroit Red Wings (1998–99) 	27–15–6
49 	W	February 3, 1999 	4–1 	@ Carolina Hurricanes (1998–99) 	28–15–6
50 	W	February 4, 1999 	2–0 	@ St. Louis Blues (1998–99) 	29–15–6
51 	L	February 6, 1999 	2–3 	Toronto Maple Leafs (1998–99) 	29–16–6
52 	L	February 9, 1999 	3–4 	Vancouver Canucks (1998–99) 	29–17–6
53 	L	February 12, 1999	2–3 	Washington Capitals (1998–99) 	29–18–6
54 	W	February 13, 1999	6–4 	Carolina Hurricanes (1998–99) 	30–18–6
55 	T	February 15, 1999	3–3 OT	Toronto Maple Leafs (1998–99) 	30–18–7
56 	W	February 17, 1999	7–1 	Tampa Bay Lightning (1998–99) 	31–18–7
57 	L	February 19, 1999	1–3 	@ Detroit Red Wings (1998–99) 	31–19–7
58 	L	February 20, 1999	2–3 	New York Islanders (1998–99) 	31–20–7
59 	W	February 22, 1999	3–2 	@ Tampa Bay Lightning (1998–99) 	32–20–7
60 	T	February 25, 1999	3–3 OT	@ Boston Bruins (1998–99) 	32–20–8
61 	W	February 28, 1999	4–1 	Phoenix Coyotes (1998–99) 	33–20–8
62 	W	March 3, 1999 	5–2 	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1998–99) 	34–20–8
63 	L	March 5, 1999 	1–4 	Boston Bruins (1998–99) 	34–21–8
64 	W	March 7, 1999 	4–2 	@ New York Islanders (1998–99) 	35–21–8
65 	W	March 9, 1999 	3–2 	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1998–99) 	36–21–8
66 	W	March 15, 1999 	2–1 	@ Vancouver Canucks (1998–99) 	37–21–8
67 	W	March 17, 1999 	4–1 	@ Edmonton Oilers (1998–99) 	38–21–8
68 	L	March 20, 1999 	1–3 	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1998–99) 	38–22–8
69 	T	March 23, 1999 	1–1 OT	Buffalo Sabres (1998–99) 	38–22–9
70 	W	March 25, 1999 	5–3 	Pittsburgh Penguins (1998–99) 	39–22–9
71 	T	March 27, 1999 	4–4 OT	Chicago Blackhawks (1998–99) 	39–22–10
72 	T	March 28, 1999 	2–2 OT	@ Florida Panthers (1998–99) 	39–22–11
73 	W	March 31, 1999 	7–1 	Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1998–99) 	40–22–11
74 	W	April 3, 1999 	4–2 	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1998–99) 	41–22–11
75 	W	April 4, 1999 	4–1 	New York Rangers (1998–99) 	42–22–11
76 	L	April 6, 1999 	2–4 	@ Carolina Hurricanes (1998–99) 	42–23–11
77 	W	April 8, 1999 	1–0 	Washington Capitals (1998–99) 	43–23–11
78 	W	April 10, 1999 	6–2 	@ Montreal Canadiens (1998–99) 	44–23–11
79 	L	April 12, 1999 	2–4 	New York Islanders (1998–99) 	44–24–11
80 	W	April 14, 1999 	2–1 	@ Buffalo Sabres (1998–99) 	45–24–11
81 	W	April 16, 1999 	3–2 OT	Philadelphia Flyers (1998–99) 	46–24–11
82 	W	April 17, 1999 	4–1 	@ Nashville Predators (1998–99) 	47–24–11
==Playoffs==
*note that teams in bold were the winner of the game. Scores are listed winner-loser style, not away-home style
===Eastern Conference Quarter-finals===
{| cellpadding="5" border="1"	New Jersey (1) vs. Pittsburgh (8)	New Jersey (1) vs. Pittsburgh (8)	New Jersey (1) vs. Pittsburgh (8)	New Jersey (1) vs. Pittsburgh (8)	New Jersey (1) vs. Pittsburgh (8)
Date 	Away 	Home 	OT 	Score 	
April 22 	Pittsburgh 	New Jersey 	 	3 – 1 	
April 24 	Pittsburgh 	New Jersey 	 	4 – 1 	
April 25 	New Jersey 	Pittsburgh 	 	4 – 2 	
April 27 	New Jersey 	Pittsburgh 	 	4 – 2 	
April 30 	Pittsburgh 	New Jersey 	 	4 – 3 	
May 2 	New Jersey 	Pittsburgh 	OT 	3 – 2 	
May 4 	Pittsburgh 	New Jersey 	 	4 – 2 	
Pittsburgh wins series 4 – 3	Pittsburgh wins series 4 – 3 	Pittsburgh wins series 4 – 3 	Pittsburgh wins series 4 – 3 	Pittsburgh wins series 4 – 3 	
==Player stats ==
===Regular season===
;Scoring
Player	Pos 	GP	G 	A 	Pts	PIM	+/-	PPG	SHG	GWG
 	RW 	80	29	43	72 	22 	16 	15 	0 	7
 	C 	78	27	37	64 	119	16 	5 	0 	8
 	C/RW	82	24	33	57 	14 	11 	5 	5 	3
 	C 	74	27	27	54 	79 	10 	8 	0 	3
 	LW 	74	17	33	50 	34 	19 	3 	0 	2
 	C 	76	13	33	46 	18 	-4 	5 	0 	2
 	D 	72	11	35	46 	26 	16 	1 	1 	3
 	RW 	70	17	20	37 	143	10 	3 	0 	5
 	D 	70	5 	26	31 	114	6 	1 	0 	0
 	LW 	52	15	13	28 	20 	1 	4 	0 	3
 	LW 	70	14	13	27 	10 	3 	1 	1 	4
 	LW 	53	11	16	27 	28 	11 	1 	0 	2
 	D 	75	5 	22	27 	64 	29 	0 	0 	1
 	C/RW	76	11	12	23 	66 	-10	3 	0 	1
 	LW 	47	5 	10	15 	28 	8 	3 	0 	1
 	LW 	64	5 	7 	12 	240	4 	0 	0 	1
 	D 	82	2 	9 	11 	63 	27 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	62	1 	10	11 	22 	4 	1 	0 	0
 	C 	56	2 	8 	10 	36 	-3 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	56	1 	7 	8 	16 	-4 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	70	1 	7 	8 	110	5 	0 	0 	0
 	LW 	10	4 	0 	4 	6 	4 	1 	0 	1
 	G 	70	0 	4 	4 	4 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	RW 	16	0 	3 	3 	59 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	5 	1 	0 	1 	0 	1 	0 	0 	0
 	C 	4 	0 	1 	1 	0 	-2 	0 	0 	0
 	G 	12	0 	1 	1 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	LW 	1 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	1 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
;Goaltending
Player	MIN 	GP	W 	L 	T 	GA 	GAA 	SO	SA 	SV 	SV%
 	4239	70	39	21	10	162	2.29	4 	1728	1566	.906
 	726 	12	8 	3 	1 	30 	2.48	1 	294 	264 	.898
Team: 	4965	82	47	24	11	192	2.32	5 	2022	1830	.905
===Playoffs===
;Scoring
Player	Pos 	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG
 	C 	7 	0	7	7 	6 	0 	0 	0
 	RW 	7 	3	3	6 	4 	0 	0 	1
 	RW 	7 	3	2	5 	2 	0 	0 	1
 	LW 	7 	0	5	5 	6 	0 	0 	0
 	LW 	5 	3	1	4 	4 	1 	0 	1
 	C 	7 	2	2	4 	4 	1 	0 	0
 	D 	7 	1	3	4 	18 	1 	0 	0
 	D 	7 	2	1	3 	10 	2 	0 	0
 	D 	7 	0	3	3 	10 	0 	0 	0
 	LW 	4 	2	0	2 	4 	0 	0 	0
 	G 	7 	0	2	2 	2 	0 	0 	0
 	C 	7 	0	2	2 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	LW 	7 	1	0	1 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	C/RW	7 	1	0	1 	2 	0 	1 	0
 	C/RW	3 	0	1	1 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	2 	0	1	1 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	5 	0	0	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	C 	7 	0	0	0 	2 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	7 	0	0	0 	8 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	7 	0	0	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	LW 	4 	0	0	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	LW 	1 	0	0	0 	2 	0 	0 	0
 	LW 	4 	0	0	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
;Goaltending
Player	MIN	GP	W	L	GA	GAA 	SO	SA 	SV 	SV%
 	425	7 	3	4	20	2.82	0 	139	119	.856
Team: 	425	7 	3	4	20	2.82	0 	139	119	.856
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 = Ties; GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals against average; SO = Shutouts; SA = Shots against; SV = Shots saved; SV% = Save percentage; 
==Awards and records==
===Records===
===Milestones===
==Draft picks==
The Devils' draft picks at the 1998 NHL Entry Draft at the Marine Midland Arena in Buffalo, New York.
Rd #	Pick #	Player 	Nat	Pos	Team (League) 	Notes
1 	26 	Mike Van Ryn 	 	D 	University of Michigan (CCHA) 	
1 	27 	Scott Gomez 	 	C 	Tri-City Americans (WHL) 	The Devils acquired the 1998 first-round pick from Dallas for Carolina's 1998 second-round pick (used on John Erskine) and the Devils' 1998 second-round pick (used on Tyler Bouck) on June 27, 1998.
2 	37 	Christian Berglund	 	C 	Färjestads BK (Elitserien) 	
3 	82 	Brian Gionta 	 	RW 	Boston College (Hockey East) 	The Devils acquired the 1998 third-round pick (originally Pittsburgh's) from Edmonton for the Devils' 1998 fourth-round pick (used on Kristian Antila), 1998 fifth-round pick (used on Oleg Smirnov), and the rights to Fredrik Lindqvist on June 27, 1998. The Devils' original third-round pick was traded to San Jose for Vlastimil Kroupa on August 22, 1997.
4 	96 	Mikko Jokela 	 	D 	HIFK Helsinki (SM-liiga) 	The Devils acquired the 1998 fourth-round pick from Chicago for Reid Simpson on January 8, 1998.
4 	105 	Pierre Dagenais 	 	LW 	Rouyn-Noranda Huskies (QMJHL) 	The Devils acquired the 1998 fourth-round pick (originally Boston's) from Los Angeles for Doug Bodger on June 18, 1998. The Devils' original fourth-round pick had been traded to Edmonton (see above note for Brian Gionta).
5 	119 	Anton But 	 	LW 	Torpedo-2 Yaroslavl (Russian Super League)	The Devils acquired the 1998 fifth-round pick from Vancouver for Peter Zezel on February 5, 1998.
5 	143 	Ryan Flinn 	 	LW 	Laval Titan College Francais (QMJHL) 	
6 	172 	Jacques Lariviere 	 	LW 	Moncton Wildcats (QMJHL) 	
7 	199 	Erik Jensen 	 	W 	Des Moines Buccaneers (USHL) 	
8 	227 	Marko Ahosilta 	 	F 	KalPa Kuopio (SM-liiga) 	
9 	257 	Ryan Held 	 	W 	Kitchener Rangers (OHL) 	
==See also==
*1998–99 NHL season
==References==
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New Jersey Devils season, 1998–99
New Jersey Devils season, 1998–99
Category:New Jersey Devils seasons