Niedermayer faces his old friends

Bonds aren’t easily broken, especially after 12 years.

After facing his former New Jersey Devils teammates for the first time in what turned out to be a 4-2 Ducks victory, captain Scott Niedermayer shook hands with several of them outside their locker room.

The experience, he said, wasn’t as nerve-racking as he imagined.

“It wasn’t that strange,” Niedermayer said. “In a lot of ways, it felt like an intense scrimmage we used to have. It was kind of good to catch up with them and see how they’re doing.

“I have a lot of good friends on and off the ice there. Obviously, three [Stanley] Cups speak for themselves.”

Niedermayer also exchanged greetings with former teammate Martin Brodeur. Brodeur, in his new book, criticized the defenseman for opting to sit out the Winter Olympics in February and undergo arthroscopic knee surgery rather than play hurt for their native Canada.

“People are allowed to disagree,” Niedermayer said. “No big deal. I can take it as a compliment that he wanted me on his team.”

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Travis Moen is showing a side of his game that didn’t appear often last season.

Moen isn’t expected to score much for the Ducks as a grinding winger on the checking line. But he showed his offensive side on Todd Marchant’s game-winning goal by setting up the forward with a nice cross-ice pass.

The left wing has seven points, already surpassing his total set in 39 games last season, spent mostly as an extra forward.

“He wasn’t an everyday player for us last year, and now he’s become one,” Ducks Coach Randy Carlyle said. “He’s a big strong guy that has found a niche in our lineup.”

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eric.stephens@latimes.com