In related news, Islander fans declared they want the Cup after seeing John Tavares at rookie camp while Ranger fans took to the streets demanding Glen Sather be fired. Hey. One can dream.

So, is bringing back Lemaire the right move for the Devils? That depends on how much he learned from his Minnesota experience along with final days from the previous New Jersey stint. He gets to coach another talented player in Zach Parise, whose fresh off a 45-goal, 94-point season. What does this mean for Parise along with ZZ Popp linemates Travis Zajac and Jamie Langenbrunner?

Knowing that writing off the Devils is like killing Michael Myers, I’m not about to jump the gun. If being a Ranger fan has taught me anything, it’s that you just can’t count out the Devils. They had plenty of success under Lemaire the first time and one Brian Rolston should be quite familiar with what to expect. He played his best hockey under the defensive mind in St. Paul.

I’m more curious to see how Patrik Elias performs. He was a rookie the last time Jacques was there and the subject of controversy in a first round upset loss to immortal Damian Rhodes and the Sens. A lot’s changed since with Elias now the all-time Devils leading scorer supplanting former assistant  turned Lowell coach John MacLean. He also has won two Stanley Cups including the memorable set up of Jason Arnott’s sudden death clincher.

Puck Daddy’s Greg Wyshynski accurately points out that Lemaire’s return pits him against former pupil Marian Gaborik, who signed with the Hudson rival Rangers. That should give a little extra juice to the rivalry. Why am I not the least excited?

Lemaire is bringing Wild assistant/former Habs coach Mario Tremblay and Tommy Albelin will be his other assistant with Hall of Famer Scott Stevens expected to play a bigger role as a special advisor. What that means exactly who knows. I’ll leave that to our resident NJD blogger Hasan.

There’s really not much else to say. This was expected once  Brent Sutter predictably quit to be with older brother Darryl in Calgary. At least the Devils brought in a coach who is passionate about the job and knows what to expect. Say what you will about Lemaire’s system but you’ll at least see more grins on that bench and a little more persona during the postgame.

Maybe it’s not all that bad a move. The Devil D didn’t exactly get the job done against Carolina. I guess we’ll leave the final verdict to Hasan.

Toronto scored three goals in the first period off of Devils miscues to start them on a 4-1 victory in Newark.

“Three straight goals, you can’t let it happen,” coach Brent Sutter said.

The Devils outshot the Maple Leafs 48-18, but turnovers in their own zone and solid play by Toronto goalie Martin Gerber prevented New Jersey from winning a team-record 50^th game and clinching the Atlantic Division.

Half-way through the first period, defenseman Colin White was unable to clear the puck out from behind goaltender Martin Brodeur. His giveaway ended up in the glove of Mikhail Grabovski, who dropped the puck and scored from the slot.

Moments later, Brian Rolston turned the puck over in the neutral zone, and Boyd Devereaux swooped in to grab it. Devereaux fed Jamal Mayers in the middle of the ice, and Mayers slid the puck over to Jeffrey Hamilton, who fired into the top right corner of the net.

The third Maple Leaf goal came at 15:56 of the first, when Christian Hanson scored on a weak-side rebound off of a shot by Jason Blake. There was not a single red jersey surrounding Hanson, whose tally was the first of his career.

“When someone makes a mistake, you try to bail them out. Today it wasn’t the case,” Brodeur said.

Toronto gave New Jersey an ample opportunity to end the period on a positive note when, while Luke Schenn was already in the penalty box for tripping Bobby Holik,  Jay Harrison got a high-stick under Brian Gionta’s visor, drawing blood. Harrison took the automatic four-minute double-minor penalty, giving the Devils a 5-on-3 advantage for 37 seconds.

New Jersey fired several shots against Gerber, and Brendan Shanahan had two open looks at the net, but shot into the only part of the net being blocked by Gerber.

“I’m sure Shanny would want that one back on the 5-on-3,” Langenbrunner said.

The restless fans showed their displeasure at the home team not capitalizing on a golden opportunity, although hope was restored in the second period, while Harrison was still in the penalty box.

Paul Martin poked the puck out from a Leaf, and fed Jamie Langenbrunner in the right circle. With two seconds remaining on the power play, Langenbrunner found an opening and slid the puck five-hole under Gerber.

“We definitely still had a mountain to climb, but we were heading in the right direction. We had been shooting pretty well and creating some opportunities, making them taking penalties. We thought we were ready for the third period, thinking we’d shut them down and go. And then we made a mistake that ended up in our head again, and from there it was definitely tough sledding,” Langenbrunner said.

That fourth goal came 1:34 into the third period when defensemen Johnny Oduya and Mike Mottau were caught up behind the net, and another failed clear-out turned into a goal.

Niklas Hagman passed the loose puck out from behind Brodeur to John Mitchell, who was waiting at the left post for an easy shot.

“I missed the shot. I was moving but it slid between my pads,” Brodeur explained.

Despite outshooting the Leafs 13-4 in the final period, New Jersey lost a chance to take more momentum into the playoffs.

The Devils’ disappointment in their play hung over the locker room, as well as a feeling of apprehension about the post season.

“Right now, we’re not thinking about clinching the division, we’re thinking about not playing well enough to be two games from the playoffs,” Holik said. “Winning the division important? Yeah. Playing well in the playoffs more important? Yeah … Right now we have more on our plate than just winning the division.”

The final two courses on the Devils’ plate are an away game in Ottawa on Thursday and the regular-season finale at home against Carolina Saturday afternoon.

Currently, New Jersey is sitting in third place in the Eastern Conference, and would match up against the Pittsburgh Penguins in the first round of the playoffs, but there is still a possibility Carolina or Philadelphia could be in the sixth spot.

Against any of those teams, for a chance to win, New Jersey will need to find a way to play 60 good minutes of hockey again like they did for most of the regular season.

Coach Brent Sutter said after the game he felt bad “for anyone who had to come watch that.” Goaltender Scott Clemmensen used the term “rock bottom.” Captain Jamie Langenbrunner called the debacle a “punch in the face.”

The Thrashers came into the Prudential Center Thursday and posted a 4-0 shutout over the Devils.

Ilya Kovalchuk notched a goal and an assist, and Todd White added two assists.

The game was evenly matched in the beginning, as the Devils and Thrashers ended the first period tied at zero.

Shortly into the game, Brian Rolston broke free of a defender and went in on Atlanta goaltender Kari Lehtonen by himself. Rolston made a quick right-to-left move, but Lehtonen was able to make the stop with his right pad.

It was the best chance the Devils had at scoring all evening.

Lehtonen made 29 saves in his 12th career shutout.

Colby Armstrong began the scoring for the Thrashers 3:03 into the second period.

Clemmensen said the puck hit his left hand, and slipped between his arm and body. Not knowing where the puck was, he leaned back onto the ice to try to prevent it from going into the net.

“I didn’t want to knock it in on net, which I did anyway,” Clemmensen said of the first tally against him.

Kovalchuk scored on a power play, which was something the Devils were not able to do in six attempts, including a five-on-three and a four-minute power play.

Jim Slater scored the third goal for Atlanta in the second period. Slater pushed the puck up the left side of the ice put it past Clemmensen.

Clemmensen’s night was done after the second period. He allowed three goals on 19 shots to the Thrashers. Kevin Weekes replaced Clemmensen in the third period but had equally shaky results.

Weekes could not stop Marty Reasoner just two minutes into the final period, sealing the fate of the Devils.

Coach Sutter mixed up the lines in the third period in an attempt to jump start the offense.

“We’re just not playing well, so anything to just mix it up and spark it up a little bit, and I completely understand,” explained winger Dainius Zubrus.

New Jersey was able to put together a strong power play attempt in the third period, accumulating eight shots on goal during the period, but could not capitalize.

Weekes finished the evening with several strong stops, saving four out of the five shots he faced.

Fans in the stands were generally unmoved by the performance, with the exception of a David Clarkson fight and two bouts between Mike Rupp and Eric Boulton.

The home crowd will have some time to forget this performance by the Devils; the team embarks on a six-game, 11-day road trip Friday morning.

Several members of the team, including Sutter, indicated that getting out on the road together might be the best possible thing to cure the bad play that has plagued New Jersey recently.

“Sometimes when you’re in a little slump like this, its good to just go on the road for a while, and get together and whatever issues we’re having, kind of sort them out amongst each other,” said defenseman Collin White.

The Devils will try to regain their form Saturday in Los Angeles against the Kings.