All of those assumptions, Lou Lamoriello said, lead to a conclusion that just isn't so: The Devils are different now.
Things didn't look good for the Devils when the Panthers scored twice in the opening 7:05.
But the Devils couldn't hold the lead and lost past regulation for the third straight game.
The Devils didn't have a lot of chances against Neuvirth early, but made the most of them.
The only reason the Devils weren't ahead after the first period was Reimer.
Still, the Blue Devils haven't advanced past the round of 16 since Krzyzewksi won his fourth national championship in 2010.
The Devils haven't won since star forward Ilya Kovalchuk injured a shoulder.
It did, and when a brawl broke out with 12.8 seconds remaining in regulation, the Devils didn't do much to help themselves, either.
WSJ: For Devils Against Bishop, Scoring Goals Turns Out to be a Tall Task
Elias sat out most of overtime, Clarkson sat out all of it and the Devils couldn't muster a shot on goal over the five minutes.
WSJ: For Devils Against Bishop, Scoring Goals Turns Out to be a Tall Task
The Devils won't get a chance to defend their conference title.
Instead, under coach Peter DeBoer, who's in his first season coaching them, the Devils haven't changed their approach as much as they've rediscovered what worked best for them in the past, balancing their commitment to defense with an offense that can be dynamic when it needs to be.
"It hasn't sunk in, " said Devils coach Pete DeBoer, who was ejected in the closing seconds for unsportsmanlike conduct.
After clicking six times in the previous eight power-play chances over three games, the Islanders failed on all seven opportunities against the Devils and couldn't find the range versus Pittsburgh, either.
These Blue Devils understand they won't get there if they don't take care of Albany first.
To the Devils, Lundqvist isn't a colossus looming over this series anymore.
WSJ: For Lundqvist and Rangers, a Bad Time to Look Vulnerable
"It hasn't sunk in, " DeBoer said after the Devils failed to reach the postseason for the second time in three years.
The New Jersey Devils, on the other hand, couldn't feel any worse after absorbing their ninth straight loss.
Brodeur, who made his eighth straight start since returning from a back injury, didn't have much work but he kept the goal-challenged Devils in the game with an in-close stop on Kessel.
What they surely don't want is for their season to be on the line when the Devils come back in less than a week.
"I think we could have won our last six or seven games, and I don't doubt that we can win six or seven in a row, " Devils coach Peter DeBoer.
Toronto set a new mark for shot futility with only two in the second period as the Devils played their usual tight-checking style against a Maple Leafs lineup that wasn't able to match New Jersey's desperation.
The population has recovered, but the genetic diversity has not recovered so that all the Tasmanian devils that exist are so similar to one another genetically that their immune systems don't seem to be able to tell one from another.
The Rangers, who hadn't scored two goals in regulation in their previous four games, scored twice in the first period, but the Devils tied it on goals by slumping players.
You don't have to tell him it's time to play and he has to play hard, " said former Devils goaltender Kevin Weekes, who was Parise's teammate in New Jersey and now covers the league for the NHL Network and "Hockey Night in Canada.
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