1998–99 New Jersey Devils season
| Company type | Professional ice hockey team |
|---|---|
| Industry | Ice hockey |
| Founded | 1982 (moved from Colorado) |
| Headquarters | Newark , United States |
Area served | Eastern Conference, NHL |
| Products | Ice hockey team |
The 1998–99 New Jersey Devils campaign represented the 25th NHL season for the franchise and their 17th since moving from Colorado in 1982. Although they clinched the Atlantic Division crown and secured the top seed in the Eastern Conference, their playoff journey ended abruptly with a first-round exit.
Regular season
The Devils established a new NHL benchmark by achieving 28 victories on the road, highlighting their exceptional success away from their home arena.
Playoffs
As they entered the 1999 postseason facing the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Devils had only progressed beyond the second round once since their Stanley Cup triumph in 1995. They seemed ready to conclude the series in Game 6 but allowed Jaromir Jagr to score a crucial goal in the final two minutes to push the contest into overtime, where he then delivered the decisive goal to clinch the series. The Devils failed to regroup, dropping Game 7 without ever holding a lead, bringing their playoff run to an early conclusion.
Regular season
|- |1||October 10, 1998||1–2 || align="left"| @ Chicago Blackhawks ||0–1–0 || |- |2||October 14, 1998||1–3 || align="left"| Pittsburgh Penguins ||0–2–0 || |- |3||October 16, 1998||2–1 || align="left"| @ New York Rangers ||1–2–0 || |- |4||October 17, 1998||2–4 || align="left"| Edmonton Oilers ||1–3–0 || |- |5||October 22, 1998||3–2 || align="left"| @ Philadelphia Flyers ||2–3–0 || |- |6||October 24, 1998||3–1 || align="left"| Boston Bruins ||3–3–0 || |- |7||October 28, 1998||0–4 || align="left"| Los Angeles Kings ||3–4–0 || |- |8||October 29, 1998||2–1 || align="left"| @ New York Islanders ||4–4–0 || |- |9||October 31, 1998||3–1 || align="left"| Florida Panthers ||5–4–0 ||
|- |10||November 3, 1998||3–1 || align="left"| New York Rangers ||6–4–0 || |- |11||November 7, 1998||4–3 || align="left"| @ Florida Panthers ||7–4–0 || |- |12||November 8, 1998||1–3 || align="left"| @ Tampa Bay Lightning ||7–5–0 || |- |13||November 11, 1998||3–0 || align="left"| Montreal Canadiens ||8–5–0 || |- |14||November 13, 1998||4–3 || align="left"| Pittsburgh Penguins ||9–5–0 || |- |15||November 14, 1998||1–6 || align="left"| @ Philadelphia Flyers ||9–6–0 || |- |16||November 19, 1998||3–2 OT|| align="left"| Carolina Hurricanes ||10–6–0 || |- |17||November 21, 1998||3–3 OT|| align="left"| Florida Panthers ||10–6–1 || |- |18||November 22, 1998||5–2 || align="left"| @ Carolina Hurricanes ||11–6–1 || |- |19||November 25, 1998||5–2 || align="left"| @ Dallas Stars ||12–6–1 || |- |20||November 26, 1998||2–3 || align="left"| @ Phoenix Coyotes ||12–7–1 || |- |21||November 28, 1998||3–2 || align="left"| @ Colorado Avalanche ||13–7–1 ||
|- |22||December 1, 1998||4–0 || align="left"| @ Washington Capitals ||14–7–1 || |- |23||December 4, 1998||1–1 OT|| align="left"| Montreal Canadiens ||14–7–2 || |- |24||December 5, 1998||7–5 || align="left"| @ New York Islanders ||15–7–2 || |- |25||December 8, 1998||5-5 OT|| align="left"| Philadelphia Flyers ||15-7-3 || |- |26||December10,1998||5-4 OT|| align="left"| @ Philadelphia Flyers ||16-7-3 || |-|27|December12,98|5-3|Colorado Avalanche|17-7-3|
Legend: {{legend2|#cfc|Win (2 points)|border=1px solid black|} {{legend2|#fcc|Loss (0 points)|border=1px solid black|} Template:Legend2
Playoffs
| 1 | April 22, 1999 | 3–1 | Pittsburgh Penguins | Devils lead series 1–0 | |
| 2 | April 24, 1999 | 1–4 | Pittsburgh Penguins | Series even at 1–1 | |
| 3 | April 25, 1999 | 2–4 | @ Pittsburgh Penguins | Penguins ahead 2–1 in series | |
| 4 | April 27, 1999 | 4–2 | @ Pittsburgh Penguins | Series tied at 2–2 | |
| 5 | April 30, 1999 | 4–3 | Pittsburgh Penguins | Devils lead series 3–2 | |
| 6 | May 2, 1999 | 2–3 OT | @ Pittsburgh Penguins | Series deadlocked at 3–3 | |
| 7 | May 4, 1999 | 2–4 | Pittsburgh Penguins | Penguins win series 4–3 |
Legend:
Scoring
- Position key: C = Center; D = Defense; G = Goaltender; LW = Left wing; RW = Right wing
- † = Acquired during season. Statistics represent tenure with Devils only.
- Template:Double-dagger = Departed during season. Statistics reflect time with Devils only.
| No. | Player | Pos | Regular season | Playoffs | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | G | A | Pts | +/- | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | +/- | PIM | |||
| 17 | Petr Sýkora | RW | 80 | 29 | 43 | 72 | 16 | 22 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 6 | −3 | 4 |
| 16 | Bobby Holík | C | 78 | 27 | 37 | 64 | 16 | 119 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 7 | −1 | 6 |
| 14 | Brian Rolston | C | 82 | 24 | 33 | 57 | 11 | 14 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 | −1 | 2 |
| 25 | Jason Arnott | C | 74 | 27 | 27 | 54 | 10 | 79 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 4 | −3 | 4 |
| 26 | Patrik Eliáš | LW | 74 | 17 | 33 | 50 | 19 | 34 | 7 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 6 |
| 9 | Brendan Morrison | C | 76 | 13 | 33 | 46 | −4 | 18 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 2 | −1 | 0 |
| 27 | Scott Niedermayer | D | 72 | 11 | 35 | 46 | 16 | 26 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 4 | −5 | 18 |
| 21 | align="left"|Randy McKay | RW | 70 | 17 | 20 | 37 | 10 | 143 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 2 |
Goaltending
| No. | Player | Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | W | L | T | SA | GA | GAA | SV% | SO | TOI | GP | W | L | SA | GA | GAA | SV% | SO | TOI | ||
| 30 | Martin Brodeur | 70 | 39 | 21 | 10 | 1728 | 162 | 2.29 | .906 | 4 | 4239 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 139 | 20 | 2.82 | .856 | 0 | 425 |
| 31 | Chris Terreri | 12 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 294 | 30 | 2.48 | .898 | 1 | 726 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
Awards
| Category | Honor/Award | Awardee |
|---|---|---|
| League (during season) |
NHL All-Star Game selections | Martin Brodeur[lower-alpha 1] |
| Robbie Ftorek (coach) | ||
| Bobby Holík | ||
| Scott Stevens | ||
| NHL Rookie of the Month | Vadim Sharifijanov (December) | |
| Team | Devils' Players' Player | Sergei Brylin |
| Hugh Delano Unsung Hero | Jay Pandolfo | |
| Most Valuable Devil | Martin Brodeur | |
| Three-Star Award | Petr Sýkora |
Milestones
| Achievement | Player | Date |
|---|---|---|
| 600th assist milestone | Dave Andreychuk | November 3, 1998 |
| Debut game | John Madden | January 6, 1999 |
Draft picks
The Devils’ draft choices during the 1998 NHL entry draft, which took place at the Marine Midland Arena, located in Buffalo, New York.
5 143 Ryan FlinnFile:Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Canada Left Wing (QMJHL) 6 172 Jacques Lariviere File:Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Canada (Unknown) (QMJHL).svg){kind=link}
| Round # | Overall Pick # | Player Name | Nationality | Position | Previous Team (League) | Remarks |
| 1 | 26 | Mike Van Ryn | File:Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Canada | Defenseman | University of Michigan (CCHA) | |
| 1 | 27 | Scott Gomez | File:Flag of the United States.svg United States | Center | Tri-City Americans (WHL) | |
| 2 | 37 | Christian Berglund | Template:Flagcountry | Center | Färjestad BK (Elitserien) | |
| 3 | 82 | Brian Gionta | File:Flag of the United States.svg United States | Right Wing | Boston College (Hockey East) | |
| 4 | 96 | Mikko Jokela | Template:Flagcountry | Defenseman | HIFK (SM-liiga) | |
| 4 | 105 | Pierre Dagenais | File:Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Canada | Left Wing | Rouyn-Noranda Huskies (QMJHL) | |
| 5 | 119 | (Anton But) | (Russia) | (Left Wing) | (Torpedo-2 Yaroslavl) (Russian Superleague) | |
See also
References
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