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Brodeur, Gionta lift Devils over Lightning

Jan 27, 2007 - 5:10 AM TAMPA, Florida (Ticker) -- The way goaltender Martin Brodeur has been playing, the New Jersey Devils only needed one or two goals.

Brodeur made 28 saves for his 89th career shutout as the Devils defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning, 2-0.

Brian Gionta and Jay Pandolfo each scored for the Devils, who improved to 5-0-1 in their last six games despite being outshot, 28-25.

"We made good decisions and we were sharp," New Jersey coach Claude Julien said. "I think that is what we wanted, to make sure that we knew what we were doing. The rest (All-Star break) was good. I think we had our legs, didn't get out of shape over the last four days, and we had good jump."

"Brodeur was the difference in the game," Tampa Bay coach John Tortorella said. "Call a spade a spade. We played a good hockey game. We just couldn't beat the goalie. The bottom line is, we're not getting results. An important part of our run here is to try to get better results at home."

The victory gave Brodeur his 11th 30-win season and improved his record to 8-1-1 with 13 goals allowed in his last 10 games.

"I just want to win," Brodeur said. "Every year, I go in and I want to win 30 games. That's my first goal. I'm happy that it happened so quickly. We'll move forward now."

Brodeur entered with the lowest goals-against average in the league at 2.01 and second with a .928 save percentage.

"For me and for our defense to play tight, we have no choice," Brodeur said. "We can't let ourselves go. I think that's the reason why we're able to get so many shutouts. If we want to win, we need to have them some nights. Our defense is playing good right now."

Gionta gave the Devils a 1-0 lead with 51 seconds left in the first period when he took a pass from Scott Gomez from behind the net and one-timed a shot from the low slot past goaltender Johan Holmqvist.

"(Patrik) Elias made a great play in the corner," Gionta said. "He held it and sucked two guys in and hit Gomez, who got it to me. I just waited, and wanted to find a soft spot, and I was able to put it where I wanted."

Gionta's game-winner was his third this season in 49 games. He had 10 in 82 games last season.

Pandolfo doubled the advantage with an empty-net goal with 47 seconds remaining in the third period.

Holmqvist made 23 saves for the Lightning, who lost for only the second time in their last nine games.

"We need to be more physical, if anything, to get the crowd and the whole bench going," Tampa Bay defenseman Dan Boyle said. "And I certainly don't think we did that in the first two periods.

"That's how they win games. It's certainly not that exciting to watch, and it's not that exciting to play in, but they win games and they don't really care how it looks."

Tampa Bay right wing Martin St. Louis, who scored a goal in Wednesday's All-Star Game, entered with seven goals and 13 assists in his last 14 games but was blanked for the second time in his last three games.