Ottawa, Ontario (My Sportsbook) - The Pat Burns era begins tonight for New Jersey as the Devils open their 2002-03 campaign against the Ottawa Senators at the Corel Centre.

Interim coach Kevin Constantine, who replaced a fired Larry Robinson back in January, led the Devils to a 20-8 mark down the stretch and the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference with an overall 41-28-9-4 mark. However, New Jersey became the first victim of the Hurricanes on their improbable run towards the Stanley Cup and were ousted by Carolina in six games.

Constantine was not retained, as the Devils turned their attention to the three- time Jack Adams Award winner Burns, who had been out of a job since being fired from Boston two years ago.

Burns, who was fired by the Bruins over a disagreement of philosophy, is a disciplined, defensive coach at heart, but he has his share of weapons to toy with while practicing the infamous neutral-zone trap.

The head coach was not the only change in store for the Devils, as centerman Bobby Holik jumped ship to the New York Rangers for a hefty paycheck, leaving New Jersey with a gaping hole in the middle.

Several days after Holik fled, general manager Lou Lamoriello pulled off a seven-player swap with the Mighty Ducks, obtaining speedy winger Jeff Friesen, attacking defenseman Oleg Tverdovsky and a prospect in exchange for former A- Liner Petr Sykora, defenseman Mike Commodore, goaltender J.F. Damphousse and prospect Igor Pohanka.

With Jason Arnott dealt away at last year's trade deadline to Dallas, Patrik Elias, the team's leading scorer from a year ago (61 points) is the lone remaining player from the once-productive A-Line.

Friesen is a former 30-goal man from his days as a Shark, but while in Anaheim he never got the motor going and severely underachieved. A year ago he managed just 17 goals in 81 games, but the Devils hope a second-line role will replenish his production.

One thing that remains constant for the Devils is the steady play of Martin Brodeur between the pipes and veteran captain Scott Stevens on the blueline.

Out in Ottawa, the Senators proved they did not need Alexei Yashin to win and after a 32-27-7-9 regular season, the seventh-seeded Sens got out of the first round for the first time in four years with a convincing five-game victory over a more talented Philadelphia Flyers squad. Ottawa then lost to the gritty Toronto Maple Leafs in a tough seven games, after going up three games to two.

The Senators lost winger Shawn McEachern in a financially motivated trade with Atlanta, but hope that their captain Daniel Alfredsson can improve on his team-leading and career-high 37 goals and 71 points from a year ago.

The hulking 6-foot-3, 210-pound Radek Bonk filled in for Yashin as the team's No. 1 center and had a career year, while Marian Hossa topped the 30-goal mark for the second straight season.

Defensively it does not get much better than the Senators, who allowed a mere 243 goals a year ago. Giant 6-foot-8 Zdeno Chara, acquired from the Islanders in the Yashin deal, leads the way, while Wade Redden is the team's best two- way rearguard and could be on the verge of a breakout season.

Providing some veteran guidance for the youngsters above is Curtis Leschyshyn, who, at 32, remains solid even though he is slowing down a bit.

In net Patrick Lalime answered the bell with a very eye-opening performance in the playoffs -- especially against Philadelphia -- although he did have plenty of help in front of him due to the scheme put together by the coaches. Nevertheless, his record-tying three consecutive shutouts against the Flyers speak for themselves.

The team is solidly behind Lalime, as it dealt promising backup Jani Hurme to the Florida Panthers just a few weeks ago.

New Jersey, which is 8-3-2 in its last 13 against the Senators, is unbeaten in its last three in Ottawa (2-0-1).

The Devils, who took three of four last season from Ottawa, own a 15-7-6 mark on opening-night, including their days in Colorado. Ottawa, on the other hand, is unbeaten in its last six season-openers (3-0-3) and is 4-1-5 in their brief history on opening night.