tied Terry Sawchuk‘s NHL record with his 103rd shutout, leading the New
Jersey Devils to a 3-0 victory over the Buffalo Sabres on Monday night.
Brodeur was rarely tested in making
22 saves to tie Sawchuk, who played from 1949-70. It was Brodeur’s
second shutout of the season after he blanked Carolina on Oct. 17.
The NHL’s winningest goalie, Brodeur
earned his league-leading 18th victory of the season. He preserved the
shutout with a lightning-quick glove stop on Buffalo defenseman Steve
Montador‘s wrist shot from the slot 5 minutes into the third period.
Brian Rolston, Travis Zajac and
Niclas Bergfors scored for New Jersey (20-7-1), owners of the best road
record (11-2-1) and a three-game winning streak.
Brodeur tied the record while matching up against one of the NHL’s best goalies, Ryan Miller.
Miller, who came in as the NHL leader
in goals-against average (1.85) and save percentage (.936) finished
with 34 saves, and got little help from a Sabres team that was
consistently bottled up by New Jersey’s tenacious forecheck.
Rolston opened the scoring with his
10th of the year with 2:09 left in the first period, poking the puck
past Miller from the slot.
Zajac made it 2-0 just 67 seconds
later, netting his ninth of the year. His slap shot from the high slot
appeared to deflect off Buffalo defenseman Andrej Sekera before going
under Miller’s left arm.
Bergfors increased the Devils lead to
3-0 with a power-play goal 38 seconds into the second period. From the
top of the left circle, Bergfors whipped a wrist shot past Miller, who
was screened, for his ninth of the season.
Notes
Brodeur needs four
appearances to tie Patrick Roy for the NHL record for most games played
by a goalie (1,029). … Brodeur’s only other shutout against Buffalo
was a 0-0 overtime tie in New Jersey in Dec. 1996. … This was the
only road game for New Jersey during a 10-game stretch that began on
Nov. 28. … Sabres RW Mike Grier missed the game because of personal
reasons, while D Chris Butler missed his second straight game because
of an ankle injury. … The road team has won the last six meetings
between these two teams. … Thirteen of the Devils’ last 18 opponents
have been held to two or fewer goals.