NHL

DEVS LOOK TO IMPROVE AGAINST RIVALS

The Scott Gordon Era begins for the Islanders tonight in Newark, while Brent Sutter said his second season is really the time for the Devils to take major steps back toward contention.

A coaching change has followed each of the Isles’ two playoff misses in the past three seasons, with Gordon replacing Ted Nolan, who was unable to end the team’s failure to win a playoff round since 1993. Making the playoffs, and winning a round, must be their first goal.

Meanwhile, Sutter said that games like these against the Isles and Rangers are vital if the Devils are to fulfill their lofty aspirations. New Jersey was a woeful 3-9-4 combined against those New Yorkers last season, the biggest blot on their record.

“[A 1-4-3 record] against the Rangers, 2-5-1 against the Islanders, that’s not good enough,” Sutter said. “You don’t lose seven games to the New York Rangers and say it’s a coincidence. It’s your rival. There were things I saw that took place that I didn’t like.

“We know our divisional games weren’t good. We need to improve that if we want to be a better team.”

The Devils believe they are a better team, with Brian Rolston and Bobby Holik brought back as free agents.

“Better? Yeah,” captain Jamie Langenbrunner said. “We have a better mix, guys in the right roles, and a commitment to what we need to do. We’d gotten away from that. The last two or three years, we’d tried to take short cuts in preparation for the season, or preparation for games.

“It’s human nature to try to find an easier way, but it doesn’t work.”

The Devils open the season healthy and stocked. For the Isles, Andy Sutton, Chris Campoli and Mike Sillinger are on injured reserve and Rick DiPietro, returning from surgery, allowed six goals in his preseason debut in Monday’s preseason finale.

While the Isles will be stoked to impress their new coach, the Devils believe this should be the start of big things.

“It’s more than Opening Night. We struggled the first 15 [6-7-2] games last year and had to battle the rest of the way. We have a chance to start off on the right foot,” John Madden said.

“We took four steps back last year to take two steps ahead. We want to get back to winning and playing in June again,” Sutter said. “There’s a process to go through to get back to that mindset again.”

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This will be the Devils’ first season opener in Newark. They went 3-5-1 on their season-starting road trip last year as the arena was completed. They have opened the season at home only twice (2-0) in the past 10 (6-3-1) seasons.

Sutter was a proud pop as his son, Brandon, made the Hurricanes’ roster. Sutter said that remorse over chewing out his son during the 2006-07 junior season in Red Deer led to his decision to coach the Devils. “I knew at that point it was time to move on from juniors,” Sutter said. He said the advice he gave Brandon was: “Treat people the way you’d want to be treated, except when you go on the ice.”

The Isles will entertain the Blues in their home opener tomorrow, when the Devils visit the Penguins.

mark.everson@nypost.com