newjerseydevils.com – The Devils continue their season-opening nine-game road trip Saturday night with their first meeting this season against the Islanders (7:00 p.m., FSN NY2, WFAN 660 AM).

Martin Brodeur made his fifth straight start in Thursday's 4-0 loss at Philaldelphia. Brodeur is 2-4-0 with a 3.51 goals-against average in six starts, but has fared well against the Islanders over the last 14 seasons.

The Devils' goaltender is 38-17-2 with four ties, a 2.17 GAA and 10 shutouts against the Islanders. The 38 wins are tied for his most against any opponent (Rangers) while the 10 shutouts are three more than he has versus any team.

The Devils were unable to build on back-to-back one-goal wins over Atlanta and Pittsburgh, falling to the Flyers despite outshooting them 38-18.

The shutout was Martin Biron's second straight and improved to Flyers to 5-1-0.

"I'm not taking anything from the goalie whatsoever, I thought he played well for them," Devils rookie coach Brent Sutter said. "But at the same time, we didn't do enough around the net. And yet we played a pretty good hockey game all in all."

Sutter played for the Islanders from 1980-1991 and won two Stanley Cups with the club during its run of four in a row from 1980-83.

Also facing the Islanders (4-3-0) for the first time after a history with them is Arron Asham, who spent the last four seasons with New York before signing with New Jersey as a free agent on Aug. 7.

Islanders' netminder Rick DiPietro is 0-4-1 in his last five starts against the Devils despite surrendering 11 goals in that span.

Tonight's matchup marks the first of eight games between the two teams, and the first of four games to be played at the Nassau Coliseum.

The Devils went 6-1-1 against the Islanders last season, outscoring them 9-3 in four wins at Nassau Coliseum. New Jersey has at least one point in seven consecutive visits to Long Island, going 5-0-2.

NJD NOTES
Brodeur is three games away from 900 career appearances, and just three wins away from becoming just the second goaltender in league history to win 500 games (Patrick Roy, 551).