"It gets boring," Daniel Briere said. "It's not the same as a seven-game playoff where every game is huge. You are in the same building, over and over again. Just to break up the routine for the players, it's great."

"You play the Devils twice in pre-season, so it's 10 times," [Derian Hatcher] said. "They thought it would create great rivalries. But when you play a team that many times, it actually takes away from it."

"I'm excited to see if we can get through it," [John Stevens] said. "My gut feeling is we're all excited for the opportunity to start putting good efforts together. I think guys are eager to make amends for how we've played at home."