DEVILS TOP BLACKHAWKS AS BRODEUR BREAKS RECORD

The New Jersey Devils opened up a quick 2-0 first period lead en route to a 3-2 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks at the Meadowlands Arena on Tuesday night.  Martin Brodeur was the winning goaltender and broke Patrick Roy’s NHL record for all time regular season victories with 552.  It also allowed the Devils to pull within 4 points of the Boston Bruins for the Eastern Conference lead.

New Jersey didn’t mess around with Brodeur’s record on the line, and took a 1-0 lead just 36 seconds into the game when Jamie Langenbrunner scored his 25^th goal of the year assisted by Zach Parise.  The Devils would strike again at the 6:01 mark when Travis Zajac lit the lamp assisted by Parise and Paul Martin.  The home team took a 2-0 lead to the dressing room and pushed the advantage to 3-0 late in the second period on Brian Gionta’s shorthanded goal from Patrik Ellias and Mike Mottau.  A half minute later Chicago would get on the board by virtue of Cam Barker’s power play tally from Brian Campbell and Patrick Kane.  They’d continue to chip away at the lead with just over two minutes to play in the game as Dustin Byfuglien scored assisted by Matt Walker but could get no closer as the Devils hung on for the 3-2 victory.

After the game, Brodeur talked about breaking the all time wins record:

"It was an exciting night. I'm happy that it's done and over with. It's been chaotic, the last few days. It was an awesome night. It was a great reception from the fans."

He also commented on a humorous moment after the game. Brodeur went to cut the net out of the goal, only to find that it wasn’t as easy as basketball players make it look on TV:

"It's definitely harder than I thought. These basketball players, it's only a little net. This was a big net. I had help from a couple of my teammates."

Devils forward Brendan Shanahan noted that even before the game it was obvious that this would be a special night:

"Guys were commenting that is was like a Stanley Cup atmosphere there, you know the intensity, the excitement, the buzz in the arena. You felt it from the drop of the puck. You felt it in warmup."

Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville gave Brodeur some post game props as well:

"He is a special goalie. You look at the consistency, the volumes of games he can play and his consistency in the net. They changed the rules because of the way he handled the puck. He's amazing. Not many goalies have that style and he keeps getting better and better and better. At this stage of his career, he looks as good as ever."

With Brodeur’s record in the books, the Devils can now set their sights on the NHL Eastern Conference title.  They’ll travel to Carolina on Wednesday night, return home for a game against the Minnesota Wild on Friday before heading to Boston for a big battle with the first place Bruins on Sunday afternoon.  Chicago is scrapping to maintain their fourth place position in the Western Conference, and will play at Washington on Wednesday night before returning home to play Edmonton on Friday and Los Angeles on Sunday.