DEVILS SHUT OUT WILD TO GAIN GROUND IN EAST

As improbable as it may have seemed a month or two ago when the Boston Bruins held a double digit lead over the rest of the conference and appeared to be on the verge of pulling away, the NHL Eastern race is getting very interesting.  The Bruins have spent the last month struggling, while the New Jersey Devils have continued to play well after the return of legendary goaltender Martin Brodeur.  On Friday night, Brodeur earned his 101^st career shutout as New Jersey blanked the Minnesota Wild 4-0.  The victory left the Devils a mere three points behind the first place Bruins, setting up an epic head to head between the two teams Sunday at the TD BankNorth Gardens in Boston.

The shutout also pulled Brodeur to within two of the all time NHL record in that department, currently held by Detroit Red Wings Hall of Famer Terry Sawchuk.  Brodeur was in stellar form on Friday night as he turned back 35 Wild shots.  Minnesota outshot New Jersey for the game 35-29, but Brodeur continued to praise his teammates despite the somewhat porous defense as he commented on the record after the game:

"It's a lot of shutouts. That record is proof of commitment by an organization to play well defensively. You can't do it by yourself. With the amount of shutouts that I've got, you've got to consider that the team is doing the right things."

Brodeur’s teammates can’t help to be amazed watching his assault on yet another NHL record.  Brian Gironta offered these comments:

"It becomes so standard that it's hard to be amazed. You see it day in and day out, just how good he is and how hard he works. Whether it's practice or warmups, he's battling for rebounds, trying to stop it. He's always trying to not let you score."

After a scoreless first period, the Devils dropped three goals on the Wild in the second with Gironta, Johnny Oduya and Patrick Elias all scoring.   Elias added another goal in the final period to produce the final 4-0 margin of victory.  Former Devils coach and current Wild coach Jacques Lemaire blamed his team’s setback on silly mistakes:

"You can't make mistakes like that when you are on the road playing against a good team. Those are mistakes you have to avoid. You do that once a year. Only one time."

The Devils have a tough schedule stretch, playing three good teams on the road starting with the aforementioned battle with Boston on Sunday.  They’ll then head to Philadelphia on Monday and Chicago on Friday.  Minnesota will host Edmonton on Sunday before traveling to ‘The Big Apple’ next week for games against the Rangers on Tuesday and the Islanders on Wednesday.