Martin Brodeur made NHL history Sunday. Brodeur stopped 19 shots for his league-leading 30th win of the season, lifting the New Jersey Devils to a 3-2 victory over the Minnesota Wild. He now has won 30 games for the eighth straight year, a feat no other goaltender has accomplished.
"Consistency is a key,'' Brodeur said. "I try very hard not to have slumps. Staying healthy is a big factor. I've never been hurt, so that has helped me. I play a lot, so that is also big. The team's level of consistency has also been big. Plus, it's a lot of fun to win games.''
Brodeur gave up two goals but also made some good stops. He made a sprawling glove save on Andrei Zyuzin midway through the second period to thwart a scoring chance, then kicked aside three shots in the frantic final 32 seconds to preserve the win.
"It's a good thing that this is now out of the way,'' Brodeur said. "It's a great accomplishment and I'm pretty excited about it. No one else has ever done it, so it has to mean something.''
The victory moved New Jersey within a point of the Ottawa Senators for the best record in the NHL. New Jersey is 13-2-1 in its last 16 games.
Patrick Elias, New Jersey's leading scorer with 40 points, scored a second-period goal to increase his consecutive point streak to five games. Elias has 10 goals and 10 assists in the last 17 games.
The Devils took a 1-0 lead in the first period on defenseman Colin White's fifth goal of the season.
John Madden got the play going by winning the faceoff and gave it to Turner Stevenson, who made the pass back to White at the right point. White then rifled a high shot to the right corner of the net that eluded goaltender Dwayne Roloson.
The Devils increased their lead to 2-0 just three minutes into the second period, when Elias received a long pass from Scott Gomez, then skated past Wild defenseman Nick Schultz, spun around and fired the blast past Roloson.
"Gomez saw me streaking up the side and made a great pass,'' Elias said. "I'm sure he knew I was going there, but he has a great sense about these things.''
The Wild got back into the game on Pierre-Marc Bouchard's power-play goal four minutes after Elias' goal.
With Christian Berglund in the penalty box for boarding, Bouchard knocked home a rebound of Marian Gaborik's initial shot for his fifth goal of the season to make it 2-1.
Minnesota had several good scoring chances in the second period, including a blast from the point by Filip Kuba, but Brodeur made a diving glove save to turn aside the attempt with 4:09 remaining in the period.
The Devils increased their lead to 3-1 in the third period, when Jamie Langenbrunner deflected Brian Rafalski's shot past Roloson with 8:34 remaining. It was Langenbrunner's 15th goal of the season.
The Wild cut the lead to 3-2, when Pascal Dupuis alertly knocked home a loose puck when Brodeur failed to glove a wobbly shot in front.
Minnesota had three shots in the final 32 seconds, but Brodeur knocked them all down. The game ended with a physical altercation between White and Darby Hendrickson.
"Always at the end of the game, there's a scramble,'' White said. "But Marty is strong and we stay tough late in the game. That's what been winning games for us lately.''
| SCORING |
PENALTIES |
First Period: New Jersey, Colin White 5 (Turner Stevenson, John Madden), 15:58.
Second Period: New Jersey, Patrik Elias 17 (Scott Gomez, Ken Daneyko), 3:06. 3, Minnesota, Pierre-Marc Bouchard 5 (power play) (Jason Marshall, Marian Gaborik), 7:04.
Third Period: 4, New Jersey, Jamie Langenbrunner 15 (Brian Rafalski, Joe Nieuwendyk), 11:21. 5, Minnesota, Pascal Dupuis 13 (Nick Schultz, Darby Hendrickson), 13:30. |
First Period: J Nieuwendyk, Njd (holding), 1:11; W Mitchell, Min (roughing), 10:53; J Friesen, Njd (roughing), 10:53; L Sekeras, Min (double minor high sticking), 11:53.
Second Period: 2, New Jersey, Patrik Elias 17 (Scott Gomez, Ken Daneyko), 3:06. 3, Minnesota, Pierre-Marc Bouchard 5 (power play) (Jason Marshall, Marian Gaborik), 7:04.
Third Period: None.
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Attendance: 16,744.
Referees: Dan O'Halloran, Rob Shick.
Linesmen: Anthony Sericolo, Dan Mccourt.
