The newest, oldest Devil wondered aloud about the symbolism of his latest line’s gray practice jerseys.
Brendan Shanahan, John Madden and Brian Rolston can be Line 110 for their effort percentage, we’ll see, but surely for their combined age.
“I just like being the youngest guy on the line,” chirped Madden, 35, at 40-year-old Shanahan. Rolston turns 36 Feb. 21, Madden on May 4.
Coach Brent Sutter would not confirm he’ll use them that way tonight, when the Atlantic Division-leading Devils play host in Newark to the Southeast-best Capitals (7:00, VERSUS, WFAN 660 AM). But that was what he explored in practice yesterday, and this team that is trying to equal its third-longest-ever winning streak of nine games looked scary that way.
The Devils already have two lines cooking. Patrik Elias, who skates with Dainius Zubrus and Brian Gionta, has goals in three straight. Jamie Langenbrunner, right wing on a line with Zach Parise and Travis Zajac, has tied the team record with three straight two-goal games. Shanahan, who joined the Devils Jan. 15, has been a revelation with three goals in his five games, and skating with Madden and Rolston looks worth a try.
“The last few games, he’s given me looks on a few different lines, different styles, and I’ve felt comfortable on each of them,” Shanahan said.
“If we do play together, we’re both shooters,” said Rolston, from whom the Devils would like more than his eight goals and 14 points in 32 games. Rolston said he was impressed that Shanahan could “miss as much time as he has and do what he’s doing – as young as he is, too.”
And perhaps Madden, a four-time nominee and 2001 winner of the Selke Award as the NHL’s top defensive forward, can test his offensive skills. He’s wondered how he’d do in an attacking role.
“That thought has crossed my mind, now and again,” Madden said. “I happened to play my role over the years and we won some championships. That’s the way it goes.”
Scott Clemmensen is expected to make his sixth straight start, and he recalled the Devils’ last meeting with the Caps, a 6-5 shootout triumph in Newark Nov. 15, after the Devils went 1-5 in their first six without Martin Brodeur.
“That game kind of started us off. That was the first step, that game,” Clemmensen said.
It was the beginning of the 25-8-1 run that has made them the talk of the league, chasing the longest winning streak in the NHL this season (10 games, Boston). They already have the NHL’s longest current streak, and they can match their best streak of last season tonight.
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Langenbrunner’s three straight multi-goal games leave him only two short of the modern record, according to the marvels at Elias Sports Bureau. Mario Lemieux (1988-89) and then-Sabre Alexander Mogilny (1992-93) each had five straight. “We’re similar-type players,” deadpanned Langenbrunner, yesterday named NHL Player of the Month for January. Only Elias (Feb. 21-25, 2004) and Mogilny (March 27-31, 2001) have had three straight two-goal games for the Devils. … The all-time record for consecutive multi-goal games is eight, set by Punch Broadbent of Toronto in 1921-22. … Langenbrunner is also the first Devil to score consecutive OT goals, again thanks to Elias Sports. … Devils have beaten Caps twice by shootout this season, 4-3 in Washington Oct. 18, and that 6-5 verdict in their latest meeting, one night after they lost 3-1 in D.C. Nov. 14.