Devils’ Losing Streak Is No Minor Problem

The Stanley Cup champion New Jersey Devils thought it was bad enough that they were going through their worst losing streak since 1991.

But while they dropped six straight games, including an 0-5 homestand, and were winless in seven games overall, the Devils couldn’t even turn to the minor leagues for help.

Of course, New Jersey could have called up reinforcements from its AHL affiliate, the Albany River Rats, but it probably wouldn’t have done much good.

At the Devils’ most dire need, the River Rats were knee-deep in a 14-game losing streak -- two short of the longest losing streak in the history of the AHL and the worst in team history.

Since beating Louisville at home in overtime in the season’s second game, Albany has not won since. The River Rats dropped seven straight home games, including an 0-5 homestand just before a six-game road trip.

Albany lost the first two games on the trip heading into this past Friday’s game at Syracuse.

But the River Rats can now look to the parent club for some support. The Devils rebounded from their skid, the longest since they dropped six straight from Jan. 1-Jan. 14, 1991, with a thrilling 3-2 overtime victory at Boston on Thursday night.

“Hopefully, we can look at this as a turning point,” Devils forward Scott Gomez said of New Jersey, which had fallen into last place with the New York islanders. “We finally had some bounces go our way.”

Albany showed a little glimmer of hope that its luck might be changing.

Richard Rochfort scored at 17:50 of the second period on Nov. 10 -- the night of the 13th straight loss -- to snap the River Rats’ shutout streak of 203 minutes, 33 seconds that began six days earlier.

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STAYING PUT: Charles Wang and Sanjay Kumar have a large task as they try to bring Islanders fans back to Nassau Coliseum.

The team’s new owners can count NHL commissioner Gary Bettman as someone who is glad the former four-time Stanley Cup champions still reside on Long Island.

Bettman paid a visit to Nassau Coliseum when the Islanders played the San Jose Sharks last weekend and spoke of a rebirth of the franchise, thanks to the new owners.

“I can’t overemphasize the importance of ownership,” Bettman said. “The new ownership here has been nothing short of superb. They’re focused on making sure there’s stability and making sure they’re making all the right moves.”

Wang and Kumar’s commitment to the community, which used to flock to see the champion Islanders of the 1980s, impressed the commissioner as well.

“They are attentive, enthusiastic, and most importantly, have a commitment to Long Island,” Bettman said. “They knew exactly what the problems were going to be when they purchased the franchise. They were under no illusions, and they’ve embraced the team.”

The pair, who built Computer Associates, rescued the team from a string of failed owners.

“We want to build something that the people of Long Island can be proud of,” Wang said. “This is just the beginning. We’d like to have a packed Coliseum where the players on the ice can feel it.”

Wang doesn’t claim to be a hockey expert, but he has quickly grown to enjoy the game while leaving on-ice decisions to general manager Mike Milbury and the coaching staff.

As for his relationship with the feisty Milbury, Wang doesn’t pull any punches.

“We might want to send him to charm school every so often,” he said, “but he works hard and he knows hockey. We work very well together.”

For that, Islanders fans have cause for optimism.

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STAYING AWAY: With the NHL adding four teams over the course of the last three seasons, some Eastern and Western conference teams only have one meeting per season.

The difficult scheduling has denied fans some matchups that are highly anticipated.

One of those meetings, 17 months in the making, finally took place Wednesday night when the Dallas Stars returned to Buffalo where they won a disputed Stanley Cup.

Brett Hull scored in triple overtime, with a skate in the crease, to win the 1999 Stanley Cup and break the hearts of Sabres fans.

The Sabres got some revenge last season when they traveled to Dallas and beat the Stars, but it wasn’t the same as having them back in their building.

Unfortunately for Buffalo partisans, Hull did it to them again. Hull scored the tying goal with only 4:38 left in regulation to turn a Sabres win into a 2-2 tie.

Sabres fans held up signs that read “No goal” and others that took shots at Bettman and Hull, who didn’t know why he was a target.

“I think everyone’s got to remember that all I did was score the goal,” Hull said. “I don’t make the rules. It really wasn’t up to me if the goal counted. I just happened to be lucky enough to score that goal.”

With scheduling as it is, Edmonton fans will have to wait until next year to see Glen Sather and Mark Messier come back with the New York Rangers.

Also, the Boston Bruins won’t go to Vancouver this season. It was there that Marty McSorley struck Canucks enforcer Donald Brashear in the head with a two-handed swing of his stick.

McSorley is still serving a yearlong ban that ends in February.