When the Devils celebrate their unforgettable 2000 Stanley Cup championship team tomorrow, this year’s team will have a chance to write some history of its own.
With a victory or overtime loss against the Stars in Newark, the Devils will complete their best-ever first half of a season, even discounting the effects of the shootout.
The Devils lead the league with a .738 point percentage, 59 points out of a possible 80 in 40 games. Subtracting their five extra points earned in shootout victories leaves the current Devils with the same 54 points — with Game 41 in hand — they compiled in 1997-98, their previous best 41-game point total.
That 1999-2000 team that will be honored tomorrow had 53 points after 41 games, one more than the 2000-01 squad that finished with a team-record 111 points.
The Stanley Cup will be in the arena along with 2000 champs: coach Larry Robinson, goalie coach Jacques Caron, and players Randy McKay, Claude Lemieux, Ken Sutton, Steve Kelly, Martin Brodeur, Ken Daneyko, Patrik Elias, Jay Pandolfo, Scott Stevens, Chris Terreri and Colin White.
Also on hand will be current Devils captain Jamie Langenbrunner, who was on the defending champion Stars when the Devils dethroned them in six games in 2000.