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Brodeur leads Devils into new campaign

Oct 4, 2007 - 3:03 PM New Jersey at Tampa Bay 7:30 pm EDT

TAMPA, Florida (Ticker) -- The New Jersey Devils and the Tampa Bay Lightning will square off in a rematch of last season's Eastern Conference quarterfinals when both teams open their 2007-08 campaign on Thursday.

The Devils, who were bounced from the playoffs by the Ottawa Senators in the conference semifinals last season, will once again be led from the back by veteran goaltender Martin Brodeur.

Brodeur won the third Vezina Trophy of his Hall of Fame career last season after setting a single-season record with 48 wins. The 35-year-old also led the league with 12 shutouts while averaging 2.18 goals against and a .922 save percentage.

Brodeur still has plenty to play for as he approaches several milestones. His sixth win this season will be his 500th, placing him just 51 wins behind the all-time wins leader Patrick Roy. If Brodeur can duplicate his 12 shutouts from a season ago, he will eclipse Terry Sawchuck's all-time record of 103 career shutouts.

While the Devils have no questions surrounding their netminder, the Lightning have struggled to find consistency between the pipes since the departure of Nikolai Khabibulin after claiming the Stanley Cup in 2003-04.

Johan Holmqvist will begin the season as the starter after replacing Marc Denis during the 2006-07 campaign. Holmqvist recorded 27 wins last season but the Lightning still finished with the seventh-worse goals-against average in the league, allowing the puck to reach the back of the net 3.16 times per contest.

Tampa Bay hosts New Jersey as the Devils begin the season with a nine-game road trip. The Devils will return home on October 27 and open their new arena, the Prudential Center in Newark, against the Senators on October 27.