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Devils enter new era in opener with rival Flyers

Oct 9, 2014 - 2:53 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - The New Jersey Devils will turn the page on the Martin Brodeur era, as they begin their 2014-15 schedule by visiting the rival Philadelphia Flyers in Thursday's clash at Wells Fargo Center.

The Devils opted not to re-sign Brodeur, the club's longtime starting goaltender, and will go forward with Cory Schneider as the No. 1 option in net. Obviously, Schneider has big shoes to fill as he attempts to replace Brodeur, a three-time Stanley Cup champion and four-time Vezina Trophy-winning goaltender.

New Jersey acquired Schneider in the summer of 2013 and the former Vancouver Canuck shared time in net with Brodeur last year. For the most part, though, he outplayed the future Hall of Famer and has finally earned his chance to be the undisputed No. 1 netminder. Brodeur, who has yet to find a team willing to sign him for 2014-15, had a better record than Schneider last year, but the Devils also seemed to score more with Brodeur in net. In the end, Jersey wound up missing the playoffs for a second straight season and for the third time in four years.

Schneider previously sat behind Roberto Luongo in Vancouver and last year posted a 1.97 goals against average with a 16-15-12 mark in 45 games for the Devils while splitting duties with Brodeur. At age 28, the Massachusetts native will now get the opportunity to be the top guy.

"After the way last season ended, none of us was too pleased and I think this year, especially for me personally, it kind of begins a new chapter," Schneider told Northjersey.com. "Hopefully, it will be a successful one for this team and for myself. I think we're all just excited to get going because last year we got off to a bad start, so we talked about really trying to get a couple wins early on."

Whether it was Brodeur or Schneider manning the crease last season, it was the struggling offense -- not goaltending -- that caused New Jersey to miss the playoffs for a second straight spring. The sudden departure of Ilya Kovalchuk in the summer of 2013 left the Devils with no scoring punch. Only Buffalo, Florida and Vancouver scored fewer than New Jersey's 197 goals last season.

The Devils had just a pair of 20-goal scorers last season and both are back this year. Adam Henrique could become the new face of the Devils, a 2008 third-round draft pick who posted a career-high and team-best 25 goals in 2013-14. The ageless Jaromir Jagr also returns after a 24-goal, 67-point season.

One area where the Devils must improve is shootouts, although it really can't get any worse. New Jersey was the top shootout team with a 12-4 mark during the 2011-12 season, one that ended in a trip to the Stanley Cup Finals. However, they were just 2-7 in the lockout-shortened 2013 campaign and failed to win any of the 13 last season. In fact, New Jersey managed just four goals in 45 chances in the extra sessions for a dreadful 8.9 success rate in 2013-14.

Shootout issues aside, the Devils split four games with Philadelphia last season and have won six of nine and eight of the last 12 meetings in this series. Jersey also has claimed three straight and six of its past eight tilts in Philly.

The Flyers began their season with Wednesday's 2-1 loss in Boston, but hope to bounce back in tonight's home opener. Philly went 24-14-3 on home ice last season.

Philadelphia was in position to earn at least a point in Wednesday's game when Sean Couturier tied the contest at 1-1 for the Flyers early in the third period. However, Chris Kelly scored the game-winning goal with 1:51 remaining in regulation to lift the Bruins to victory.

Jakub Voracek and Matt Read each posted an assist in the setback, while Steve Mason took the tough loss after stopping 31-of-33 shots.

"They came out extremely quick," said Mason. "They were the better team tonight and that's why they won."

Philadelphia is beginning a three-game homestand this evening. The Flyers also will host Montreal and Anaheim during the stay at Wells Fargo Center.