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Brodeur baffles Maple Leafs in Devils' victory

Nov 19, 2006 - 2:42 AM TORONTO (Ticker) -- Martin Brodeur again used his stick like a magic wand to keep the New Jersey Devils on top of the Atlantic Division.

Brodeur made 33 saves for his 12th victory of the season and Jamie Langenbrunner and Patrik Elias scored for the Devils, who won for the sixth time in seven games with a 2-1 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs.

A two-time Vezina Trophy winner, Brodeur stopped 10 shots in the first period, six in the second and was headed to his fourth shutout of the season and 84th career before Darcy Tucker scored with 3:37 remaining.

"My gut feeling kept telling me he was the guy to go with even if it was back-to-back," Devils coach Claude Julien said. "We played last night and he had great energy (and) great focus. He was on top of his game and we needed that (for) our first big win on the road."

"We did a lot of good things tonight, but against a team like New Jersey, you give up a couple of minutes of hockey that you don't want," Tucker said. "They are going to make you pay and that's what happened tonight."

Brodeur frustrated Toronto for most of the contest. He turned aside Alexei Ponikarovsky's wrister in the slot with 9:40 left and made a chest save on Matt Stajan in front moments later while the Maple Leafs had a man advantage.

"When we weathered the storm after the first, we played well for the most part," Brodeur said. "I think it's the way we start our games that has set the tone during this last stretch."

Meanwhile, frustration is starting to set in for the Maple Leafs.

"The last two games, we hit a wall offensively," Stajan said. "We had chances tonight. We couldn't put it in. Give the goalie credit. Marty Brodeur, he played great."

"We're showing signs of complacency," Toronto coach Paul Maurice said. "We haven't scored a 5-on-5 goal in almost six periods of hockey. What happens is you score some goals and you get a little confidence and you take it for granted a little."

New Jersey took a 1-0 lead just seconds after killing a power play following defenseman Johnny Oduya's hooking infraction.

Goaltender Mikael Tellqvist made a save on Zach Parise's blast before Langenbrunner controlled the rebound at the right faceoff circle, turned and fired a slap shot between Tellqvist's pads. It was his eight goal of the season and fifth in his last four games.

"(Langenbrunner) is shooting pucks very well and getting into some good shooting spots," Julien said. "His linemates are doing a great job of finding him."

Elias gave New Jersey a 2-0 lead when his wrist shot from the slot was deflected into the air and bounced off Toronto defenseman Brendan Bell into the net for his fourth of the campaign.

Making his first appearance of the season because Jean-Sebastien Aubin came down with the flu and Andrew Raycroft is sidelined with a groin injury, Tellqvist stopped 17 shots for the Maple Leafs, who fell to 5-4-2 at home.

"I am not in an ideal situation," Tellqvist said. "I'm the third goalie here. I just have to wait and see. I wanted to come up with a strong performance."