The 2023-24 New Jersey Devils season opens in just 48 days (at the time of the writing); the Devils will be fighting the Buffalo Sabres in Prague, Czechia. To get ready for the season, we're doing a daily piece countdown of all the numbers of the Devils sweaters and moments in Devils franchise history. Since we are 48 days away, we will focus on the 48-goal season of Brian Gionta in the 2005-06 season, who is currently still the franchise record holder of goals in a single season in Devils history.
In the 2003-04 season, Brian Gionta had just 29 points in his 3rd season with the Devils with 21 goals. When the Devils returned from the lockout of the 2004-05 season, Gionta would start his season with a 3-point performance against rookie Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins at home on October 5th, 2005. Gionta scored two goals in that game, the first to make it 3-0 on a beautiful stick flip on a rebound from his knees in front of Jocelyn Thibault. In the 3rd period, on a power play, Gionta flipped the puck in front of Thibault for his second game goal. Fifteen days later, on October 20th, 2005, on the road against those same Penguins, he would also score two goals and an assist. In that first half of the season, Gionta, especially in October-December, scored 21 goals in 39 games, having several two-goal games during that stretch. Gionta would start the new year on January 3rd, 2006, with a 2-goal game at home against the Florida Panthers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHBmu4Dt-AQ
Heading into the break for the Olympics that season, Gionta would add ten more goals, sitting at 33 goals in just 58 games. Coming back from the Olympic break, Gionta would pot 13 more goals in 24 more games, netting his total at 46 goals, and on April 16, 2006, at home against the Philadelphia Flyers, he would score the first goal of the game, beating out Alexander Mogilny’s record of 43 goals in the 2000-01 season, and tying Pat Verbeek’s record of 46 goals in the 1987-88 season. Gionta had one more game to try and get the new franchise record for goals in a season. The day of April 14, 2006, the season's final game, Montreal, will be remembered by Devils fans forever for two reasons: I’ll get to in a bit. Down 3-0 late in the 2nd period, Brian Gionta put in a rebounded shot to get the Devils on the board and potted his 47th goal, breaking Verbeek’s record. But Gionta wasn’t done there yet, as he would score his 48th goal of the season on the powerplay in the 3rd to put the Devils right back into the game. With goals from Patrik Elias to tie the game and Jamie Langenbrunner late, the Devils won the season's final game 4-3. The other reason the game was so particular for fans was that the Atlantic Division was up for grabs that night, with the Devils, Flyers, and New York Rangers having a chance to win the division.
The Devils needed a Rangers loss to the Ottawa Senators to help them out, and they got the help they needed with a 5-1 Senators win. However, the Flyers won their final game against the Islanders 4-1. As their game ended, the Devils got the comeback in their game, giving them the 2005-06 Atlantic Division title. Will it be possible for someone on the 2024-25 Devils or even in the future to break that record? The answer is yes; someone like Jack Hughes could even break the record; we’ll have to wait and see how things go this season.