1995–96 New Jersey Devils season

1995–96 New Jersey Devils
1995–96 New Jersey Devils
Division	6th Atlantic
Conference	9th Eastern
1995–96 record	37–33–12
Home record	22–17–2
Road record	15–16–10
Goals for	215
Goals against	202
Team information
General manager	Lou Lamoriello
Coach	Jacques Lemaire
Captain	Scott Stevens
Alternate captains	Ken Daneyko; John MacLean
Arena	Continental Airlines Arena
Average attendance	16,219
Minor league affiliate(s)	Albany River Rats; Raleigh IceCaps
Team leaders
Goals	Steve Thomas (26)
Assists	Steve Thomas (35)
Points	Steve Thomas (61)
Penalty minutes	Mike Peluso (146)
Plus/minus	Bobby Holík and Brian Rolston (+9)
Wins	Martin Brodeur (34)
Goals against average	Corey Schwab (2.18)
	← 1994–95 1996–97 →

The 1995–96 New Jersey Devils season was the 22nd season for the National Hockey League franchise that was established on June 11, 1974, and 14th season since the franchise relocated from Colorado prior to the 1982–83 NHL season.^[1] After winning the Stanley Cup in the previous season, and qualifying for the playoffs for six seasons, the team failed to make the playoffs for the first time since 1989, losing their last game of the season with a chance to qualify for the postseason. They became the first defending Stanley Cup champions to fail to make the playoffs since the 1969–70 Montreal Canadiens.

Regular season

The Devils were the least penalized team during the regular season, being shorthanded only 319 times.^[2] They also had the lowest shooting percentage in the NHL, scoring only 215 goals on 2,636 shots (8.2%).^[2]

Final standings

Atlantic Division
No.		GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
1	Philadelphia Flyers	82	45	24	13	282	208	103
2	New York Rangers	82	41	27	14	272	237	96
3	Florida Panthers	82	41	31	10	254	234	92
4	Washington Capitals	82	39	32	11	234	204	89
5	Tampa Bay Lightning	82	38	32	12	238	248	88
6	New Jersey Devils	82	37	33	12	215	202	86
7	New York Islanders	82	22	50	10	229	315	54

Eastern Conference^[3]
R		Div	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
1	Philadelphia Flyers	ATL	82	45	24	13	282	208	103
2	Pittsburgh Penguins	NE	82	49	29	4	362	284	102
3	New York Rangers	ATL	82	41	27	14	272	237	96
4	Florida Panthers	ATL	82	41	31	10	254	234	92
5	Boston Bruins	NE	82	40	31	11	282	269	91
6	Montreal Canadiens	NE	82	40	32	10	265	248	90
7	Washington Capitals	ATL	82	39	32	11	234	204	89
8	Tampa Bay Lightning	ATL	82	38	32	12	238	248	88

9	New Jersey Devils	ATL	82	37	33	12	215	202	86
10	Hartford Whalers	NE	82	34	39	9	237	259	77
11	Buffalo Sabres	NE	82	33	42	7	247	262	73
12	New York Islanders	ATL	82	22	50	10	229	315	54
13	Ottawa Senators	NE	82	18	59	5	191	291	41

Divisions: ATL – Atlantic, NE – Northeast

bold – Qualified for playoffs

Schedule and results

1995–96 regular season^[4]

October: 6–4–0 (home: 4–3–0; road: 2–1–0)

Game	Result	Date	Score	Opponent	Record	Recap
1	W	October 7, 1995	4–0	Florida Panthers	1–0–0	Recap
2	W	October 12, 1995	4–1	Winnipeg Jets	2–0–0	Recap
3	W	October 14, 1995	4–1	@ Montreal Canadiens	3–0–0	Recap
4	W	October 15, 1995	4–3	@ Buffalo Sabres	4–0–0	Recap
5	L	October 17, 1995	1–3	Edmonton Oilers	4–1–0	Recap
6	W	October 19, 1995	4–2	Detroit Red Wings	5–1–0	Recap
7	W	October 21, 1995	4–1	Ottawa Senators	6–1–0	Recap
8	L	October 25, 1995	2–4	Vancouver Canucks	6–2–0	Recap
9	L	October 28, 1995	3–5	Pittsburgh Penguins	6–3–0	Recap
10	L	October 31, 1995	1–2	@ Edmonton Oilers	6–4–0	Recap

November: 5–6–3 (home: 3–2–0; road: 2–4–3)

Game	Result	Date	Score	Opponent	Record	Recap
11	T	November 2, 1995	3–3 OT	@ San Jose Sharks	6–4–1	Recap
12	W	November 4, 1995	4–2	@ Los Angeles Kings	7–4–1	Recap
13	L	November 5, 1995	1–6	@ Mighty Ducks of Anaheim	7–5–1	Recap
14	L	November 8, 1995	1–2	Calgary Flames	7–6–1	Recap
15	W	November 11, 1995	4–2	Philadelphia Flyers	8–6–1	Recap
16	W	November 12, 1995	3–2	@ Philadelphia Flyers	9–6–1	Recap
17	W	November 14, 1995	1–0	Hartford Whalers	10–6–1	Recap
18	T	November 16, 1995	2–2 OT	@ Boston Bruins	10–6–2	Recap
19	L	November 18, 1995	4–5	Buffalo Sabres	10–7–2	Recap
20	L	November 21, 1995	3–4	@ Florida Panthers	10–8–2	Recap
21	L	November 22, 1995	1–3	@ Tampa Bay Lightning	10–9–2	Recap
22	L	November 25, 1995	0–2	@ Dallas Stars	10–10–2	Recap
23	T	November 27, 1995	1–1 OT	@ New York Rangers	10–10–3	Recap
24	W	November 29, 1995	4–3 OT	Colorado Avalanche	11–10–3	Recap

December: 4–9–1 (home: 4–3–0; road: 0–6–1)

Game	Result	Date	Score	Opponent	Record	Recap
25	W	December 1, 1995	5–1	Tampa Bay Lightning	12–10–3	Recap
26	L	December 2, 1995	1–4	@ New York Islanders	12–11–3	Recap
27	L	December 6, 1995	2–4	@ Montreal Canadiens	12–12–3	Recap
28	L	December 7, 1995	1–2	Toronto Maple Leafs	12–13–3	Recap
29	W	December 9, 1995	4–2	New York Islanders	13–13–3	Recap
30	L	December 11, 1995	1–2	Florida Panthers	13–14–3	Recap
31	L	December 15, 1995	1–3	@ Detroit Red Wings	13–15–3	Recap
32	L	December 16, 1995	2–3	Buffalo Sabres	13–16–3	Recap
33	W	December 19, 1995	5–4 OT	Philadelphia Flyers	14–16–3	Recap
34	T	December 21, 1995	2–2 OT	@ Tampa Bay Lightning	14–16–4	Recap
35	L	December 23, 1995	1–2	@ Florida Panthers	14–17–4	Recap
36	W	December 27, 1995	5–3	New York Islanders	15–17–4	Recap
37	L	December 29, 1995	3–5	@ Winnipeg Jets	15–18–4	Recap
38	L	December 31, 1995	0–5	@ Chicago Blackhawks	15–19–4	Recap

January: 7–3–1 (home: 5–2–0; road: 2–1–1)

Game	Result	Date	Score	Opponent	Record	Recap
39	W	January 3, 1996	1–0	@ Colorado Avalanche	16–19–4	Recap
40	W	January 6, 1996	3–1	Washington Capitals	17–19–4	Recap
41	W	January 9, 1996	4–2	St. Louis Blues	18–19–4	Recap
42	L	January 11, 1996	1–2	San Jose Sharks	18–20–4	Recap
43	L	January 13, 1996	2–3	@ Boston Bruins	18–21–4	Recap
44	W	January 14, 1996	7–2	Dallas Stars	19–21–4	Recap
45	L	January 16, 1996	2–4	Boston Bruins	19–22–4	Recap
46	W	January 23, 1996	3–1	Los Angeles Kings	20–22–4	Recap
47	W	January 25, 1996	3–1	Washington Capitals	21–22–4	Recap
48	T	January 27, 1996	4–4 OT	@ Hartford Whalers	21–22–5	Recap
49	W	January 30, 1996	3–2 OT	@ Vancouver Canucks	22–22–5	Recap

February: 5–3–3 (home: 3–2–1; road: 2–1–2)

Game	Result	Date	Score	Opponent	Record	Recap
50	T	February 1, 1996	1–1 OT	@ Calgary Flames	22–22–6	Recap
51	W	February 3, 1996	3–2 OT	@ Ottawa Senators	23–22–6	Recap
52	T	February 7, 1996	1–1 OT	Pittsburgh Penguins	23–22–7	Recap
53	W	February 10, 1996	3–0	New York Rangers	24–22–7	Recap
54	L	February 11, 1996	2–4	Mighty Ducks of Anaheim	24–23–7	Recap
55	T	February 16, 1996	2–2 OT	@ Buffalo Sabres	24–23–8	Recap
56	W	February 18, 1996	3–0	Washington Capitals	25–23–8	Recap
57	L	February 19, 1996	1–4	@ Philadelphia Flyers	25–24–8	Recap
58	L	February 21, 1996	1–4	Florida Panthers	25–25–8	Recap
59	W	February 23, 1996	6–5	Montreal Canadiens	26–25–8	Recap
60	W	February 24, 1996	2–1	@ Washington Capitals	27–25–8	Recap

March: 7–4–4 (home: 2–2–1; road: 5–2–3)

Game	Result	Date	Score	Opponent	Record	Recap
61	W	March 1, 1996	6–2	New York Islanders	28–25–8	Recap
62	W	March 2, 1996	4–1	@ Ottawa Senators	29–25–8	Recap
63	T	March 4, 1996	2–2 OT	@ New York Rangers	29–25–9	Recap
64	T	March 6, 1996	2–2 OT	@ Toronto Maple Leafs	29–25–10	Recap
65	W	March 9, 1996	4–3 OT	@ Pittsburgh Penguins	30–25–10	Recap
66	W	March 10, 1996	3–2 OT	@ Philadelphia Flyers	31–25–10	Recap
67	T	March 13, 1996	1–1 OT	Montreal Canadiens	31–25–11	Recap
68	W	March 15, 1996	5–0	Tampa Bay Lightning	32–25–11	Recap
69	L	March 17, 1996	0–3	@ Florida Panthers	32–26–11	Recap
70	L	March 20, 1996	1–2	Boston Bruins	32–27–11	Recap
71	L	March 22, 1996	2–4	Chicago Blackhawks	32–28–11	Recap
72	W	March 23, 1996	3–2 OT	@ New York Islanders	33–28–11	Recap
73	W	March 26, 1996	6–4	@ Tampa Bay Lightning	34–28–11	Recap
74	T	March 28, 1996	4–4 OT	@ St. Louis Blues	34–28–12	Recap
75	L	March 30, 1996	1–2	@ Pittsburgh Penguins	34–29–12	Recap

April: 3–4–0 (home: 1–3–0; road: 2–1–0)

Game	Result	Date	Score	Opponent	Record	Recap
76	L	April 2, 1996	1–3	@ New York Rangers	34–30–12	Recap
77	L	April 4, 1996	0–1	Hartford Whalers	34–31–12	Recap
78	W	April 6, 1996	6–3	@ Hartford Whalers	35–31–12	Recap
79	W	April 7, 1996	4–2	New York Rangers	36–31–12	Recap
80	L	April 10, 1996	1–5	Philadelphia Flyers	36–32–12	Recap
81	W	April 11, 1996	3–2	@ Washington Capitals	37–32–12	Recap
82	L	April 13, 1996	2–5	Ottawa Senators	37–33–12	Recap

Legend: Win (2 points) Loss (0 points) Tie (1 point)

Player statistics

Scoring

Position abbreviations: C = Center; D = Defense; G = Goaltender; LW = Left Wing; RW = Right Wing
† = Joined team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, signing) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Devils only.
‡ = Left team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, release) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Devils only.

No.	Player	Pos	Regular season
No.	Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM
32	Steve Thomas	LW	81	26	35	61	−2	98
12	Bill Guerin	RW	80	23	30	53	7	116
15	John MacLean	RW	76	20	28	48	3	91
17	Petr Sykora	RW	63	18	24	42	7	32
27	Scott Niedermayer	D	79	8	25	33	5	46
44	Stephane Richer	RW	73	20	12	32	−8	30
16	Bobby Holik	C	63	13	17	30	9	58
4	Scott Stevens	D	82	5	23	28	7	100
14	Brian Rolston	C	58	13	11	24	9	8
9	Neal Broten	C	55	7	16	23	−3	14
29	Shawn Chambers	D	64	2	21	23	1	18
21	Randy McKay	RW	76	11	10	21	7	145
6	Phil Housley†	D	22	1	15	16	−4	8
25	Valeri Zelepukin	LW	61	6	9	15	−10	107
23	Dave Andreychuk†	LW	15	8	5	13	2	10
11	Jim Dowd‡	C	28	4	9	13	−1	17
6	Tommy Albelin‡	D	53	1	12	13	0	14
8	Mike Peluso	LW	57	3	8	11	4	146
19	Bob Carpenter	C	52	5	5	10	−10	14
24	Steve Sullivan	RW	16	5	4	9	3	8
18	Sergei Brylin	LW	50	4	5	9	−2	26
3	Ken Daneyko	D	80	2	4	6	−10	115
33	Reid Simpson	LW	23	1	5	6	2	79
28	Kevin Dean	D	41	0	6	6	4	28
10	Denis Pederson	C	10	3	1	4	−1	0
20	Scott Pellerin	LW	6	2	1	3	1	0
5	Ricard Persson	D	12	2	1	3	5	8
26	Jason Smith	D	64	2	1	3	5	86
10	Esa Tikkanen†‡	LW	9	0	2	2	−6	4
30	Martin Brodeur	G	77	0	1	1		6
11	Jocelyn Lemieux†‡	RW	18	0	1	1	−7	4
24	Patrik Elias	LW	1	0	0	0	−1	0
2	Cale Hulse‡	D	8	0	0	0	−2	15
35	Corey Schwab	G	10	0	0	0		31
31	Chris Terreri‡	G	4	0	0	0		0

Goaltending

‡ = Left team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, release) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Devils only.

No.	Player	Regular season
No.	Player	GP	W	L	T	SA	GA	GAA	SV%	SO	TOI
30	Martin Brodeur	77	34	30	12	1954	173	2.34	.911	6	4433
35	Chris Terreri‡	4	3	0	0	92	9	2.57	.902	0	210
31	Corey Schwab	10	0	3	0	119	12	2.18	.899	0	331

Awards and records

Awards

Type	Award/honor	Recipient	Ref
League (annual)	NHL All-Rookie Team	Petr Sykora (Forward)	^[5]
League (in-season)	NHL All-Star Game selection	Martin Brodeur^[a]	^[7]
	NHL All-Star Game selection	Scott Stevens^[a]	^[7]
	NHL Rookie of the Month	Petr Sykora (December)	^[8]
Team	Devils' Players' Player	Steve Thomas	^[9]
	Hugh Delano Unsung Hero	Shawn Chambers	^[9]
	Most Valuable Devil	Martin Brodeur	^[9]
	Three-Star Award	Martin Brodeur	^[9]

Milestones

Milestone	Player	Date	Ref
First game	Ricard Persson	October 7, 1995	^[10]
	Denis Pederson	October 12, 1995
	Petr Sykora	October 28, 1995
	Corey Schwab	November 18, 1995
	Cale Hulse	December 6, 1995
	Patrik Elias	December 7, 1995
	Steve Sullivan	February 23, 1996
1,000th game played	Scott Stevens	January 9, 1996	^[11]
1,000th point	Dave Andreychuk	April 7, 1996	^[12]
1,000th game played	Dave Andreychuk	April 11, 1996	^[13]

Transactions

Draft picks

New Jersey's picks at the 1995 NHL entry draft, held in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, at Edmonton Coliseum.^[14]

Rd #	Pick #	Player	Nat	Pos	Team (league)	Notes
1	18	Petr Sykora	Czech Republic	C	Detroit Vipers (IHL)
2	44	Nathan Perrott	Canada	RW	Oshawa Generals (OHL)
3	70	Sergei Vyshedkevich	Russia	D	Dynamo Moscow (RSL)
3	78	David Gosselin	Canada	LW	Sherbrooke Faucons (QMJHL)	^[b]
4	79	Alyn McCauley	Canada	C	Ottawa 67's (OHL)	^[c]
4	96	Henrik Rehnberg	Sweden	D	Färjestad BK Jrs. (Elitserien)
5	122	Chris Mason	Canada	G	Prince George Cougars (WHL)
6	148	Adam Young	Canada	LW	Windsor Spitfires (OHL)
7	174	Richard Rochefort	Canada	C	Sudbury Wolves (OHL)
8	200	Frederic Henry	Canada	G	Granby Bisons (QMJHL)
9	226	Colin O'Hara	Canada	D	Winnipeg Saints (MJHL)

Notes

^ ^a ^b Brodeur and Stevens were voted to the starting lineup.^[6]
^ The Devils acquired the 1995 third-round pick from Detroit for Viacheslav Fetisov on April 3, 1995.
^ The Devils acquired the 1995 fourth-round pick from Ottawa for Jaroslav Modry on July 8, 1995. The official Devils transaction page incorrectly lists McCauley's pick as the fifth round.^[15]

References

"New Jersey Devils 1995-96 roster and scoring statistics at hockeydb.com". www.hockeydb.com. Retrieved August 11, 2023.
"1995-96 New Jersey Devils Roster, Stats, Injuries, Scores, Results, Shootouts". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved August 11, 2023.

^ National Hockey League (2010). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book/2011. Triumph Books. p. 83. ISBN 978-1-60078-422-4.
^ ^a ^b "1995-96 NHL Summary". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved August 11, 2023.
^ "1995–1996 Conference Standings". National Hockey League. Retrieved July 3, 2014.
^ "1995-96 New Jersey Devils Schedule". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved August 11, 2023.
^ "Postseason All-Star Teams". NHL.com. Retrieved August 27, 2023.
^ "NHL All-Star Game Starting Lineups by Year (since 1986)". NHL.com. Archived from the original on March 22, 2023. Retrieved August 29, 2024.
^ "1996 NHL All-Star Game Rosters". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved August 29, 2024.
^ "NHL Rookies of the Month". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved August 27, 2023.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Levine, Mike (ed.), 2009-10 New Jersey Devils Media Guide, New Jersey Devils Hockey Club, p. 225
^ "1995-96 NHL Debuts". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved October 6, 2024.
^ Yannis, Alex (January 10, 1996). "HOCKEY;The Devils Find a Way to Solve Keenan". The New York Times. Retrieved August 27, 2023. SCOTT STEVENS, the Devils' captain, played the 1,000th game of his career.
^ "Devils 4, Rangers 2 – UPI Archives". UPI. April 7, 1996. Retrieved August 27, 2023. Andreychuk picked up his 1,000th career point on the play.
^ "1982 NHL Entry Draft -- Dave Andreychuk". www.hockeydraftcentral.com. Retrieved August 27, 2023. Played in 1,000th career NHL game for New Jersey on April 11, 1996, at Washington.
^ "1995 NHL Entry Draft Picks at hockeydb.com". www.hockeydb.com. Retrieved August 28, 2023.
^ McCauley's profile at HockeyDB.com