The New Jersey Devils fired coach Robbie Ftorek Thursday after the Eastern Conference leaders lost 10 of their last 16 games. Devils president and general manager Lou Lamoriello said assistant Larry Robinson would take over the team for the rest of the regular season. "I did not see light at the end of the tunnel ... and felt that the decision was necessary," Lamoriello said. Ftorek is free to remain with the organization in another capacity, Lamoriello said, adding that the two didn't discuss alternative options with the team. Ftorek replaced Jacque Lemaire as coach in May 1998 after the Devils, who had had the best regular-season record in the Eastern Conference,were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by Ottawa. The Devils were again the top seed in the Eastern Conference last season but lost a seven-game battle to Pittsburgh in the opening round.