Devils beat Coyotes, Broduer sets sights on Roy’s record

The movie script like scenario for New Jersey Devils’ goaltender Martin Brodeur has come to pass.  He’ll get the opportunity to tie Patrick Roy’s NHL record for regular season victories with Roy’s #33 hanging in the rafters of the Bell Center in Montreal—which also happens to be Brodeur’s home town.  The Devils and Brodeur took care of business of Thursday night at home, earning a 5-2 victory over the Phoenix Coyotes. 

Brodeur’s teammates almost immediately staked him to a 2-0 lead—Zach Parise scored his 40^th goal of the year just 18 seconds from the opening faceoff assisted by Jamie Langenbrunner, Paul Martin.  John Madden added the second goal at 2:56 of the first period from Johnny Oduya and Mike Rupp.  The Coyotes hung around, however, as Scottie Upshall scored on the power play assisted by Petr Prucha and Matthew Lombardi to go to the locker room with a one goal deficit.

The Devils got back down to business in the second period and put the game away with two goals--Dainius Zubrus scored at 7:11 assisted by Brendan Shanahan and Bryce Salvador, with Patrik Elias tallying at the 13:03 mark assisted by Salvador and Brian Gionta.  The Devils would go up 5-1 early in the third period on Travis Zajac’s power play score from Brian Rolston and Patrik Elias.  The Coyotes would add a meaningless goal with just over two minutes to play for the final 5-2 result.

After the victory, Brodeur looked ahead to one of the biggest nights of his career as he goes for Patrick Roy’s record Saturday night in Montreal:

"Now, there's something to really get excited about, with the possibility of tying it on Saturday. I'm happy we won and I'll be very happy to tie it in Montreal. It just adds to the story. You can't ask for a better script. Everything happens for a reason. I just want to be able to put this all behind me. It feels good to be back playing and to get a chance like this.”

"This is going to be a bit of pressure and stuff. It should be fun. I'm happy I'll be able to live it, and live it with my family and friends.”

After Saturday night’s epic game at the Bell Centre against the Montreal Canadiens, the Devils will return home on Tuesday to play the Chicago Blackhawks.  They’ll then hit the road again, heading south to play the Carolina Hurricanes on Wednesday.  Phoenix will return home for the next three games, facing the Nashville Predators on Saturday, the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday and the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday.