21.   Ken Daneyko, the veteran defenseman, said communication has improved this season between Lemaire and his players.

22.   Knee surgery on veteran defenseman Shawn Chambers will keep him in sick bay until mid-January.

23.   Kevin Lowe, the veteran defenseman, wore a soft cast on his bruised left wrist Thursday, but said he would play without it.

24.   Ken Daneyko, the veteran defenseman, may have best summed up the feelings of the Devils, the defending Stanley Cup champions.

25.   Later, Messier accidentally bumped into Ulf Samuelsson, the veteran defenseman.

26.   Kevin Lowe, a veteran defenseman who missed two games with the flu, was back in the lineup Tuesday night.

27.   Ludwig, the veteran defenseman, did have one overly zealous moment.

28.   Murphy and Bob Rouse, another veteran defenseman, had read the play perfectly.

29.   Most of the Islanders refused to cite exhaustion as an excuse, but the veteran defenseman Rich Pilon had seen this sort of effort before.

30.   Now he will turn to free agency in search of a veteran defenseman.