Devils' Brodeur saves day against Avs

0 Comments | Deseret News (Salt Lake City), Mar 16, 2008 | by Associated Press

DENVER -- Martin Brodeur made one save using the handle portion of his stick, another by extending his elbow out just in time to deflect away a shot.

"I get lucky on a few," Brodeur said with a grin.

There's a little skill involved, too. Brodeur stopped 24 shots to reach 40 wins for a record seventh time in New Jersey's 4-2 win over the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday.

Brodeur said the 40-win mark was nice, but he's more concerned with turning in solid performances every night.

"I build my career and the way I play around being consistent," Brodeur said. "I play a lot of games, my teammates expect me to win 40 games. They (goals) are nice to accomplish, but your team has got to be a big part of it also."

The Devils' offense tallied four goals for a second straight game as Dainius Zubrus, Jamie Langenbrunner, Jay Pandolfo and John Madden all scored. New Jersey has won five of its last six.

"I thought we were a good team tonight," said Brent Sutter, whose squad has won five of six. "We stayed within our structure and how we want to play. Obviously, Marty had a great game again."

Brodeur extended his own NHL record by reaching 40 wins again. Brodeur broke the league mark last season by earning 48 victories and is 18 shy of topping former Avalanche goalie Patrick Roy's career record of 551 wins.

BRUINS 3, FLYERS 2, OT: At Boston, Andrew Ference tied the game with 27 seconds left in regulation and Aaron Ward won it for Boston with 2:17 into overtime as the Bruins beat Philadelphia to stay ahead of the Flyers in the Eastern Conference playoff race. Tim Thomas made 24 saves for Boston, stopping Jeff Carter on a breakaway in overtime.

PREDATORS 3, RED WINGS 1: At Detroit, Rich Peverley's second- period goal broke a tie, and Nashville snapped Detroit's five-game winning streak. Dan Hamhuis and Jerred Smithson also scored for Nashville, fighting for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. Dan Ellis made 34 saves for the Predators, who broke a three-game losing streak.

CANADIENS 3, ISLANDERS 0: At Montreal, Jaroslav Halak stopped 30 shots for his first shutout of the season, and Roman Hamrlik, Alex Kovalev and Guillaume Latendresse scored for Montreal. Halak earned his third NHL shutout in his first home start of the season. Montreal, which has nine games remaining, took over the Northeast Division lead with 89 points, two more than idle Ottawa.

LIGHTNING 3, RANGERS 0: At Tampa, Fla., Mike Smith made 20 saves to lead Tampa Bay past the New York Rangers. Smith, acquired from Dallas on Feb. 26, has three shutouts in 29 games this season. The first two came with the Stars. Tampa Bay got goals from Alexandre Picard, Martin St. Louis and Michel Ouellet. The Lightning, last in the Eastern Conference, have won three straight.

SABRES 6, MAPLE LEAFS 2: At Toronto, Jason Pominville and Jochen Hecht each had a goal and two assists, and Buffalo moved within one point of the Eastern Conference's postseason cutoff with a victory over Toronto.

CANUCKS 4, STARS 3: At Dallas, Brendan Morrison scored the tiebreaking goal early in the third period and added two assists to send Vancouver past Dallas Stars after the Canucks wasted an early three-goal lead.

WILD 2, KINGS 0: At St. Paul, Minn., Niklas Backstrom's first shutout since October and Marian Gaborik's 200th NHL goal helped Minnesota snap a five-game losing streak. Backstrom made 24 saves for his first shutout since Oct. 10 against Edmonton and Brian Rolston also scored for the Wild, who leapfrogged Colorado for first place in the Northwest Division.

DUCKS 5, BLUES 2: At Anaheim, Calif., Rob Niedermayer broke open a tie game with a pair of third-period goals, and the Ducks beat St. Louis to extend their club-record home winning streak to nine games.

OILERS 5, COYOTES 2: At Glendale, Ariz., Dwayne Roloson made 38 saves in his first start in six weeks to lead Edmonton past Phoenix for the Oilers' fourth win in five games.

ECHL

WRANGLERS 4, GRIZZLIES 3: At Las Vegas, Utah (30-26-2-6) was unable to hold a 3-2 third period lead and fell 4-3 in regulation to Las Vegas (40-11-5-7) Saturday night at the Orleans Arena. Neither team ever led by more than one goal in the contest as it went back and forth throughout.