2003–04 New Jersey Devils season

The 2003–04 New Jersey Devils season was the team's 22nd season in the National Hockey League since the franchise relocated to New Jersey.

2003–04 New Jersey Devils
Division	2nd Atlantic
Conference	6th Eastern
2003–04 record	43–25–12–2
Home record	22–13–5–1
Road record	21–12–7–1
Goals for	213
Goals against	164
Team information
General manager	Lou Lamoriello
Coach	Pat Burns
Captain	Scott Stevens Scott Niedermayer (Jan–Apr) interim
Alternate captains	Patrik Elias John Madden (Jan–Apr) interim Scott Niedermayer
Arena	Continental Airlines Arena
Average attendance	15,059
Team leaders
Goals	Patrik Elias (38)
Assists	Scott Gomez (56)
Points	Patrik Elias (81)
Penalty minutes	Colin White (96)
Plus/minus	Patrik Elias (+26)
Wins	Martin Brodeur (38)
Goals against average	Martin Brodeur (2.03)

Like the 2001–02 NHL season, the Devils finished 6th in the Eastern Conference and were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs. The team started the season really impressive, winning 17 of their first 30 games. However, in the 2004 calendar year, they were 24–19–4–1, causing them to finish sixth in the conference, second in the division and lose to one of their division rivals, the Philadelphia Flyers in five games in the quarterfinals. They were also marred by injured defenseman Scott Stevens and Brian Rafalski which also caused them to be eliminated in the first round of the playoffs.

Regular season

The defending Stanley Cup champions, the Devils only allowed 164 goals, the lowest total ever allowed by a team under the 82-game regular-season format. The Devils also shut out their opponents 14 times, a league-high. Furthermore, they were the most disciplined team in the League, finishing with the regular season with the fewest power-play opportunities against (266) and the fewest power-play goals allowed (39).[1][2]

• March 23, 2004 - In an overtime victory over the Florida Panthers, Martin Brodeur earned his 400th career victory. At the time, he was the youngest goalie to win 400 career games. [3]

Final standings

Atlantic Division[4]

No.	CR		GP	W	L	T	OTL	GF	GA	PTS
1	3	Philadelphia Flyers	82	40	21	15	6	229	186	101
2	6	New Jersey Devils	82	43	25	12	2	213	164	100
3	8	New York Islanders	82	38	29	11	4	237	210	91
4	13	New York Rangers	82	27	40	7	8	206	250	69
5	15	Pittsburgh Penguins	82	23	47	8	4	190	303	58

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[5]

R		Div	GP	W	L	T	OTL	GF	GA	Pts
1	Z- Tampa Bay Lightning	SE	82	46	22	8	6	245	192	106
2	Y- Boston Bruins	NE	82	41	19	15	7	209	188	104
3	Y- Philadelphia Flyers	AT	82	40	21	15	6	209	188	101
4	X- Toronto Maple Leafs	NE	82	45	24	10	3	242	204	103
5	X- Ottawa Senators	NE	82	43	23	10	6	262	189	102
6	X- New Jersey Devils	AT	82	43	25	12	2	213	164	100
7	X- Montreal Canadiens	NE	82	41	30	7	4	208	192	93
8	X- New York Islanders	AT	82	38	29	11	4	237	210	91
8.5
9	Buffalo Sabres	NE	82	37	34	7	4	220	221	85
10	Atlanta Thrashers	SE	82	33	37	8	4	214	243	78
11	Carolina Hurricanes	SE	82	28	34	14	6	172	209	76
12	Florida Panthers	SE	82	28	35	15	4	188	221	75
13	New York Rangers	AT	82	27	40	7	8	206	250	69
14	Washington Capitals	SE	82	23	46	10	3	186	253	59
15	Pittsburgh Penguins	AT	82	23	47	8	4	190	303	58

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

Z – Clinched Conference; Y – Clinched Division; X – Clinched Playoff spot

Schedule and results

No.	R	Date	Score	Opponent	Record	Points
1	T	October 8, 2003	3–3 OT	@ Boston Bruins (2003–04)	0–0–1–0	1
2	W	October 11, 2003	2–1	@ Carolina Hurricanes (2003–04)	1–0–1–0	3
3	T	October 16, 2003	2–2 OT	Toronto Maple Leafs (2003–04)	1–0–2–0	4
4	L	October 18, 2003	2–3	Tampa Bay Lightning (2003–04)	1–1–2–0	4
5	L	October 22, 2003	1–2	Florida Panthers (2003–04)	1–2–2–0	4
6	W	October 24, 2003	2–1	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (2003–04)	2–2–2–0	6
7	L	October 25, 2003	2–5	Boston Bruins (2003–04)	2–3–2–0	6
8	W	October 28, 2003	4–0	@ New York Islanders (2003–04)	3–3–2–0	8
9	W	October 30, 2003	3–2	Philadelphia Flyers (2003–04)	4–3–2–0	10
10	W	November 1, 2003	4–3	Colorado Avalanche (2003–04)	5–3–2–0	12
11	W	November 5, 2003	3–2 OT	San Jose Sharks (2003–04)	6–3–2–0	14
12	T	November 7, 2003	1–1 OT	Toronto Maple Leafs (2003–04)	6–3–3–0	15
13	W	November 8, 2003	1–0	@ Ottawa Senators (2003–04)	7–3–3–0	17
14	T	November 12, 2003	2–2 OT	@ Buffalo Sabres (2003–04)	7–3–4–0	18
15	W	November 13, 2003	3–1	Florida Panthers (2003–04)	8–3–4–0	20
16	W	November 15, 2003	5–0	New York Rangers (2003–04)	9–3–4–0	22
17	W	November 19, 2003	4–1	Buffalo Sabres (2003–04)	10–3–4–0	24
18	W	November 21, 2003	2–1 OT	Pittsburgh Penguins (2003–04)	11–3–4–0	26
19	W	November 25, 2003	4–0	@ Los Angeles Kings (2003–04)	12–3–4–0	28
20	T	November 26, 2003	3–3 OT	@ Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (2003–04)	12–3–5–0	29
21	L	November 28, 2003	0–2	@ Dallas Stars (2003–04)	12–4–5–0	29
22	T	November 30, 2003	1–1 OT	@ Colorado Avalanche (2003–04)	12–4–6–0	30
23	L	December 2, 2003	1–3	Phoenix Coyotes (2003–04)	12–5–6–0	30
24	W	December 4, 2003	3–0	Washington Capitals (2003–04)	13–5–6–0	31
25	W	December 6, 2003	2–1	@ Ottawa Senators (2003–04)	14–5–6–0	33
26	W	December 10, 2003	1–0 OT	New York Islanders (2003–04)	15–5–6–0	35
27	T	December 12, 2003	3–3 OT	Philadelphia Flyers (2003–04)	15–5–7–0	36
28	W	December 13, 2003	2–0	@ Philadelphia Flyers (2003–04)	16–5–7–0	38
29	L	December 16, 2003	4–5	@ New York Islanders (2003–04)	16–6–7–0	38
30	W	December 18, 2003	3–0	@ Atlanta Thrashers (2003–04)	17–6–7–0	40
31	W	December 19, 2003	5–2	@ Buffalo Sabres (2003–04)	18–6–7–0	42
32	T	December 21, 2003	2–2 OT	@ Chicago Blackhawks (2003–04)	18–6–8–0	43
33	OTL	December 26, 2003	3–4 OT	New York Islanders (2003–04)	18–6–8–1	44
34	W	December 27, 2003	2–0	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (2003–04)	19–6–8–1	46
35	L	December 29, 2003	1–3	@ New York Islanders (2003–04)	19–7–8–1	46
36	T	January 1, 2004	2–2 OT	@ Washington Capitals (2003–04)	19–7–9–1	47
37	L	January 3, 2004	2–3	@ Nashville Predators (2003–04)	19–8–9–1	47
38	W	January 5, 2004	3–2 OT	Edmonton Oilers (2003–04)	20–8–9–1	49
39	L	January 7, 2004	2–4	Pittsburgh Penguins (2003–04)	20–9–9–1	49
40	L	January 9, 2004	1–4	Tampa Bay Lightning (2003–04)	20–10–9–1	49
41	W	January 10, 2004	1–0	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (2003–04)	21–10–9–1	51
42	L	January 13, 2004	0–4	Ottawa Senators (2003–04)	21–11–9–1	51
43	T	January 15, 2004	3–3 OT	@ New York Rangers (2003–04)	21–11–10–1	52
44	W	January 17, 2004	2–1 OT	Washington Capitals (2003–04)	22–11–10–1	54
45	W	January 20, 2004	3–0	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (2003–04)	23–11–10–1	56
46	L	January 21, 2004	1–2	Carolina Hurricanes (2003–04)	23–12–10–1	56
47	W	January 23, 2004	2–0	Montreal Canadiens (2003–04)	24–12–10–1	58
48	W	January 25, 2004	3–2	Atlanta Thrashers (2003–04)	25–12–10–1	61
49	W	January 27, 2004	4–3	@ Columbus Blue Jackets (2003–04)	26–12–10–1	63
50	L	January 29, 2004	2–5	@ Detroit Red Wings (2003–04)	26–13–10–1	63
51	W	January 31, 2004	4–1	@ St. Louis Blues (2003–04)	27–13–10–1	65
52	W	February 3, 2004	2–1	Ottawa Senators (2003–04)	28–13–10–1	67
53	L	February 5, 2004	0–4	Vancouver Canucks (2003–04)	28–14–10–1	67
54	L	February 10, 2004	1–4	@ Philadelphia Flyers (2003–04)	28–15–10–1	67
55	L	February 11, 2004	1–3	New York Rangers (2003–04)	28–16–10–1	67
56	W	February 14, 2004	4–1	Carolina Hurricanes (2003–04)	29–16–10–1	69
57	W	February 15, 2004	3–2 OT	Los Angeles Kings (2003–04)	30–16–10–1	71
58	T	February 17, 2004	4–4 OT	Minnesota Wild (2003–04)	30–16–11–1	72
59	L	February 19, 2004	1–3	@ Washington Capitals (2003–04)	30–17–11–1	72
60	W	February 21, 2004	7–3	@ New York Rangers (2003–04)	31–17–11–1	74
61	W	February 22, 2004	3–1	Calgary Flames (2003–04)	32–17–11–1	76
62	W	February 25, 2004	8–2	Buffalo Sabres (2003–04)	33–17–11–1	78
63	L	February 27, 2004	2–3	Atlanta Thrashers (2003–04)	33–18–11–1	78
64	L	February 28, 2004	0–3	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (2003–04)	33–19–11–1	78
65	L	March 1, 2004	1–2	@ Montreal Canadiens (2003–04)	33–20–11–1	78
66	W	March 3, 2004	5–2	@ Florida Panthers (2003–04)	34–20–11–1	80
67	OTL	March 5, 2004	2–3 OT	@ Tampa Bay Lightning (2003–04)	34–20–11–2	81
68	W	March 6, 2004	4–1	@ Carolina Hurricanes (2003–04)	35–20–11–2	83
69	L	March 9, 2004	1–3	Philadelphia Flyers (2003–04)	35–21–11–2	83
70	W	March 11, 2004	6–4	Chicago Blackhawks (2003–04)	36–21–11–2	85
71	L	March 13, 2004	1–2	@ Philadelphia Flyers (2003–04)	36–22–11–2	85
72	W	March 15, 2004	3–1	@ New York Rangers (2003–04)	37–22–11–2	87
73	W	March 17, 2004	6–1	Pittsburgh Penguins (2003–04)	38–22–11–2	89
74	T	March 19, 2004	1–1 OT	Montreal Canadiens (2003–04)	38–22–12–2	90
75	L	March 20, 2004	2–3	@ Montreal Canadiens (2003–04)	38–23–12–2	90
76	W	March 23, 2004	4–3 OT	@ Florida Panthers (2003–04)	39–23–12–2	92
77	L	March 25, 2004	1–2	@ Tampa Bay Lightning (2003–04)	39–24–12–2	92
78	W	March 26, 2004	5–0	@ Atlanta Thrashers (2003–04)	40–24–12–2	94
79	W	March 28, 2004	3–2	New York Islanders (2003–04)	41–24–12–2	96
80	W	March 30, 2004	5–0	New York Rangers (2003–04)	42–24–12–2	98
81	W	April 3, 2004	5–2	@ Boston Bruins (2003–04)	43–24–12–2	100
82	L	April 4, 2004	1–3	Boston Bruins (2003–04)	43–25–12–2	100

Playoffs

(E6) New Jersey Devils vs. (E3) Philadelphia Flyers

The series opened at Wachovia Center in Philadelphia, and the Flyers won both games 1 and 2 3-2 over New Jersey. Games three and four were played at Continental Airlines Arena in New Jersey. The Devils won game three 4-2, but the Flyers were victorious in game four by a score of 3-0. Game five was played back in Philadelphia, and the Flyers won that game 3-1 and won the series 4 games to 1.

Media

Television coverage was still on FOX Sports Net New York with Mike Emrick and Chico Resch as usual with Matt Loughlin hosting in the studio and color commentating. Radio coverage remained on WABC 770 with John Hennessy calling the play-by-play with Randy Velischek providing color commentary.

Player statistics

Regular season

Scoring

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	+/-	PPG	SHG	GWG
Patrik Elias	LW	82	38	43	81	44	26	9	3	9
Scott Gomez	C	80	14	56	70	70	18	3	0	1
Scott Niedermayer	D	81	14	40	54	44	20	9	0	3
Jeff Friesen	LW	81	17	20	37	26	8	5	0	4
Brian Rafalski	D	69	6	30	36	24	6	2	0	1
John Madden	C	80	12	23	35	22	7	1	1	1
Sergei Brylin	LW	82	14	19	33	20	10	7	0	1
Brian Gionta	RW	75	21	8	29	36	19	0	0	8
Turner Stevenson	RW	61	14	13	27	76	0	4	0	2
Jay Pandolfo	LW	82	13	13	26	14	5	1	2	4
Jamie Langenbrunner	RW	53	10	16	26	43	9	1	2	2
Paul Martin	D	70	6	18	24	4	12	2	0	2
Grant Marshall	RW	65	8	7	15	67	-9	5	0	2
Erik Rasmussen	LW/C	69	7	6	13	41	5	0	0	0
Colin White	D	75	2	11	13	96	10	0	0	0
Scott Stevens	D	38	3	9	12	22	3	1	0	1
Mike Rupp	C	51	6	5	11	41	-1	1	0	1
Igor Larionov	C	49	1	10	11	20	3	0	0	0
Jan Hrdina	C	13	1	6	7	10	4	0	0	0
Viktor Kozlov	C	11	2	4	6	2	0	0	0	0
Christian Berglund	LW	23	2	3	5	4	-4	0	0	0
Tommy Albelin	D	45	1	3	4	4	7	0	0	0
David Hale	D	65	0	4	4	72	12	0	0	0
Sean Brown	D	39	0	3	3	44	5	0	0	0
Raymond Giroux	D	11	0	3	3	4	-3	0	0	0
Rob Skrlac	LW	8	1	0	1	22	1	0	0	1
Jiri Bicek	RW	12	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0
Corey Schwab	G	3	0	1	1	2	0	0	0	0
Martin Brodeur	G	75	0	0	0	4	0	0	0	0
Scott Clemmensen	G	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Craig Darby	C	2	0	0	0	0	-1	0	0	0
Tuomas Pihlman	LW	2	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0
Alexander Suglobov	RW	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	T/OT	GA	GAA	SO	SA	SV	SV%
Martin Brodeur	4555	75	38	26	11	154	2.03	11	1845	1691	.917
Scott Clemmensen	238	4	3	1	0	4	1.01	2	84	80	.952
Corey Schwab	187	3	2	0	1	2	0.64	1	68	66	.971
Team:	4980	82	43	27	12	160	1.93	14	1997	1837	.920

Playoffs

Scoring

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG
Scott Gomez	C	5	0	6	6	0	0	0	0
Patrik Elias	LW	5	3	2	5	2	1	0	1
Brian Gionta	RW	5	2	3	5	0	1	0	0
Jan Hrdina	C	5	2	0	2	2	0	0	0
Paul Martin	D	5	1	1	2	4	1	0	0
Jamie Langenbrunner	RW	5	0	2	2	2	0	0	0
Erik Rasmussen	LW/C	5	0	2	2	2	0	0	0
Scott Niedermayer	D	5	1	0	1	6	0	0	0
Tommy Albelin	D	4	0	1	1	0	0	0	0
Brian Rafalski	D	5	0	1	1	0	0	0	0
Jiri Bicek	RW	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Martin Brodeur	G	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Sean Brown	D	1	0	0	0	2	0	0	0
Sergei Brylin	LW	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Jeff Friesen	LW	5	0	0	0	4	0	0	0
Raymond Giroux	D	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
David Hale	D	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Viktor Kozlov	C	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Igor Larionov	C	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
John Madden	C	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Jay Pandolfo	LW	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Turner Stevenson	RW	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Colin White	D	5	0	0	0	4	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	GA	GAA	SO	SA	SV	SV%
Martin Brodeur	298	5	1	4	13	2.62	0	133	120	.902
Team:	298	5	1	4	13	2.62	0	133	120	.902

[6]

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
Scott Niedermayer	James Norris Memorial Trophy	End of regular season
Scott Niedermayer	NHL First All-Star Team - Defense	End of regular season

Nominations

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

Draft picks

The Devils' draft picks at the 2003 NHL Entry Draft at the Gaylord Entertainment Center in Nashville, Tennessee.

Rd #	Pick #	Player	Nat	Pos	Team (League)	Notes
1	17	Zach Parise	United States	C	University of North Dakota (WCHA)	[7]
2	42	Petr Vrana	Czech Republic	C	Halifax Mooseheads (QMJHL)
3	93	Ivan Khomutov	Russia	C	Elektrostal Elemash (Vysshaya Liga)	[8]
4	136	No fourth-round pick[9]
5	167	Zach Tarkir	United States	D	Chilliwack Chiefs (BCHL)
6	197	Jason Smith	Canada	G	Lennoxville Cougars (LHJAAAQ)
7	229	No seventh-round pick[10]
8	261	Joey Tenute	Canada	C	Sarnia Sting (OHL)
9	292	Arseny Bondarev	Russia	LW	Yaroslavl Jrs. (Russia)

See also

• 2003–04 NHL season

References

• Game log: "2003–04 New Jersey Devils Games". Hockey-reference.com. Retrieved 2009-05-06.
• Team standings: on espn.com

1. https://www.hockey-reference.com/leagues/NHL_2004.html
2. https://www.hockey-reference.com/leagues/NHL_2004_games.html
3. https://www.deseret.com/2004/3/24/19819240/brodeur-youngest-goalie-to-win-400-career-games
4. "2003-2004 Division Standings". National Hockey League. Retrieved March 26, 2012.
5. "2003–2004 Standings by Conference". National Hockey League. Retrieved March 26, 2012.
6. "2003-04 New Jersey Devils Statistics – Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com. Retrieved 2009-06-02.
7. The Devils acquired the 2003 first-round pick from Edmonton for St. Louis' 2003 first-round pick (used on Marc-Antoine Pouliot) and the Devils' 2003 second-round pick (used on Jean-François Jacques) on June 21, 2003. The Devils had traded their original 2003 first-round draft pick (used on Shawn Belle) to St. Louis for the Blues' first-round pick.
8. The Devils acquired the 2003 third-round pick from St. Louis for Mike Danton and the Devils' 2003 third-round pick (used on Konstantin Zakharov) on June 21, 2003.
9. The Devils traded their 2003 fourth-round pick (used on Michael Vanelli) to Atlanta for Richard Smehlik and a conditional 2004 draft pick on March 10, 2003.
10. The Devils traded the 2003 seventh-round pick (used on Stephen Dixon) to Pittsburgh for Stephane Richer on March 19, 2002.