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New-look Devils open season vs. Islanders

Oct 10, 2008 - 10:23 AM NY Islanders (0-0-0) at New Jersey (0-0-0), 7:00 pm EDT

NEWARK, New Jersey (Ticker) -- To help end persistent dry spells in the Stanley Cup playoffs, the New Jersey Devils have turned to their past.

Brian Rolston and Bobby Holik return to New Jersey with hopes of helping the Devils to their fourth Stanley Cup title in 14 years - a journey that begins Friday in their season opener against the New York Islanders.

The Devils have failed to make any noise in the postseason since their 2003 Stanley Cup Finals victory, so they went out and got two players from their glory days.

Rolston and Holik were acquired via free agency thanks to general manager Lou Lamoriello's prudence to shell out top dollar for Marian Hossa, who signed with the Detroit Red Wings. Rolston, who scored 31 goals and added 28 assists last season for the Minnesota Wild, figures to drastically improve a power play in desperate need of a lift.

Holik is way past him prime but still has enough gas left in the tank to free up John Madden to play more of an offensive role. With the two veterans returning, the Devils now have nine players with a combined 16 Stanley Cup rings.

They also have a nice crop of young contributors, including 24-year-old Zach Parise, who notched a team-high 32 goals and 65 points in 81 games last season. Travis Zajac is hoping to bounce back from a sophomore slump in which he registered 34 points - eight fewer than his impressive rookie campaign.

Still, Martin Brodeur remains the team's biggest strength. He won his fourth Vezina Trophy last season and finished second in the NHL with 44 wins.

Brodeur sputtered in the playoffs, however, posting a 3.19 goals-against average compared to a 2.17 mark during the regular season. The 36-year-old needs just 14 wins to pass Hall of Famer Patrick Roy for the top spot on the all-time list.

The Atlantic Division rival Islanders hope the departures of Miroslav Satan, Ruslan Fedotenko and Josef Vasicek do not make an already anemic offense even worse. New York was last in goals per game last season (2.30) and its power play was second-worst.

Chances are, newly acquired Doug Weight and defenseman Mark Streit will not provide enough to hand goaltender Rick DiPietro many leads.

The 27-year-old DiPietro went 26-28-7 with a 2.82 GAA in 2007-08 but missed 19 games after undergoing season-ending hip surgery.

The Islanders are 9-18-8 in regular-season openers, while the Devils are 18-8-7, giving them the fourth-best winning percentage in the NHL.