Brodeur gets shutout in return to Devils

VIDEO PLAYLIST

• Brodeur Shuts Out Avs In Return

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Game Information

Arena: Prudential Center Location: Newark, New Jersey

Referees: Justin St. Pierre, Tom Kowal Linesmen: Scott Cherrey, Don Henderson

Attendance: 16,107 (91.4% full)

Team Stat Comparison
190	Goals	238
253	Goals Against	207
50	Power Play Goals	58
64	Power Play Goals Allowed	65
4	Shorthanded Goals	12
8	Shorthanded Goals Allowed	4
1062	Penalty Minutes	1058
13	Average Penalty Minutes	13

Scoring Summary
1ST PERIOD			COL	NJD
4:38		Jamie Langenbrunner Assists: Travis Zajac, Zach Parise	0	1
2ND PERIOD			COL	NJD
8:43		Patrik Elias (Power Play) Assists: Paul Martin, Zach Parise	0	2
3RD PERIOD			COL	NJD
8:06		Zach Parise Assists: Jamie Langenbrunner, Travis Zajac	0	3
16:47		Travis Zajac Assists: Paul Martin, Johnny Oduya	0	4

NEWARK, N.J. -- Marty's back, as good as ever.

Martin Brodeur recorded his 99th career regular-season shutout, making 24 saves in his first game since elbow surgery in early November and the New Jersey Devils beat the Colorado Avalanche 4-0 on Thursday night.

Fast Facts

• Martin Brodeur returned for his first game since Nov. 1 and posted a shutout, stopping 24 shots.

•  It was Brodeur's 545th career win (six from tying Patrick Roy for most all-time) and his 99th career shutout (five from tying Terry Sawchuk for most all-time).

• Zach Parise scored his 36th goal and added two assists for his sixth three-point game of the season.

• The Devils won their fifth straight at home. Colorado has lost three straight after three straight wins. The Avalanche were shut out for the seventh time this season.

-- ESPN research

"It was an exciting night to get out there and perform," Brodeur said. "I was really anxious all day, more nervous that I thought I was going to be. We pulled it off. It was nice to score early in the game. I didn't get much work. It was a nice game to play."

Brodeur posted his third shutout in 11 games this season to move within four of Terry Sawchuk's regular-season career mark of 103, and reached 545 victories to close within six of tying Patrick's Roy's NHL record.

The four-time Vezina Trophy winner as hockey's best goalie was greeted by a standing ovation from fans when he stepped on the ice for the warmups and they cheered every time he touched the puck, even when he simply directed it to the corner.

"The fans were great," Brodeur said. "I don't know if they were sarcastic about cheering me on the saves sometimes but it was definitely nice."

Despite missing 50 games after having surgery to repair a torn biceps in his left elbow, Brodeur was very sharp. He got a gimme on his first save, a shot from the red line by Chris Stewart about 6 minutes into the contest.

The Avalanche had their chances though. Milan Hejduk forced Brodeur to make a very good pad save with 9 minutes left in the period and he also tested the 15-year veteran with a rebound late in the period.

Brodeur made a sliding save on Ben Guite early in the second period and he somehow got in front of a power-play chance by Wojtek Wolski later in the period.

Wolski would beat Brodeur on a short-handed chance just minutes later, but the puck hit off iron and bounced away.

"The elbow was great," Brodeur said. "I didn't feel anything all game long. I tested it a couple of times, especially getting up and moving across. In the middle of the second, I made a couple of saves, going left and right, moving across. It was good."

Zach Parise, Jamie Langenbrunner, Patrik Elias and Travis Zajac scored, but the night belonged to Brodeur. He even dreamed about his performance the night before. Of course, it was a shutout.

"You just go out there and play," Brodeur said. "Sometimes it happens. I never really think about it and I don't want to jinx myself thinking about shutouts."

Other than the opening shift of the final period and on a power play late, Brodeur had little work in the third period.

All he had to do late was listen to the crowd chant "Mar-tee! Mar-tee!" and then have it go wild when he was selected the No. 1 star of the game.

Marty's Milestones

Martin Brodeur's elbow injury may have postponed his chase toward history, but goaltending immortality is not far off for the Montreal native.

Goaltender Victories, NHL History
1. Patrick Roy 551
2. Martin Brodeur 546
3. Ed Belfour 484
4. Terry Sawchuk 447

Goaltender Shutouts, NHL History
1. Terry Sawchuk 103
2. Martin Brodeur 99
3. George Hainsworth 94
4. Glenn Hall 84
5. Jacques Plante 82

--ESPN.com research

Langenbrunner gave Brodeur the only goal he would need 4:38 after the opening faceoff.

Parise intercepted a pass by Ian Laperriere in the Devils' zone and quickly passed it to Zajac who pushed the puck to Langenbrunner coming down the right wing. Langenbrunner let a slap shot go from the right circle and it beat Andrew Raycroft between the pads for his 19th goal of the season.

Elias got a little lucky getting his 24th goal on a power play at 8:43 of the second period. Defenseman Paul Martin took a pass from Parise and fired the puck to the right of the net. It bounced off the end boards and came right back in front to Elias, who backhanded it home.

Parise, tied with Jeff Carter of Philadelphia for No. 2 in goals this season, powered his way past Colorado defenseman Adam Foote in the third period and beat Raycroft in close.

Zajac closed out the scoring with 3:13 to play after the Devils kept the puck in the Avalanche zone for about a minute straight.

Foote wasn't surprised that the Brodeur and his teammates were primed for the game.

"I don't think we gave him a good test, that's for sure," Foote said. "He is going to make the saves we gave him. You knew he was going to make those. I don't think we made it too difficult for him."

The loss was the third straight for Colorado and 11th in 16 games.

"Things are not going our way, definitely, pretty much the whole year," Hejduk said. "We were eight points out of playoff spot before tonight and it's an uphill battle and it's frustrating."

Game notes
The Avalanche had killed off a season-high 18 consecutive penalties before Elias scored on the power play. ... Laperriere's fighting penalty in the second period pushed him over 100 minutes in penalties for the fourth straight year and his 12th overall. ... Scott Clemmensen and Kevin Weekes had two shutouts in the 50 games Brodeur was sidelined. Brodeur had missed only 12 games due to injury in his previous 14 seasons.