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Elias scores in shootout, Brodeur records 40th win

Mar 9, 2007 - 6:00 AM PITTSBURGH (Ticker) -- Patrick Elias used the extra time to help Martin Brodeur achieve another milestone.

Elias scored the lone shootout goal and Brodeur became the first goaltender in NHL history to record six 40-win seasons as the New Jersey Devils posted a 4-3 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins.

New Jersey's captain, Elias found the gap between netminder Marc-Andre Fleury's pads in the third round of the shootout as the Devils (41-19-8) widened their lead in the Atlantic Division to eight points over the second-place Penguins (36-21-10).

"I had a couple moves go wide," Elias said. "This time, I stayed a little higher and away from the goalie, and it worked. ... I just wait if it opens up, or if he keeps sliding, I cut it back. I think it's pretty hard for the goalies if you have (those options)."

"I think everybody has seen that he's starting to find his touch again," New Jersey coach Claude Julien said. "His confidence is certainly much better, and that's what this game (is) all about. It's about confidence, and before he went for the shot, in his mind, he was going to succeed. He had the confidence that he needed to do it."

The league's second-winningest goalie (486) of all-time, Brodeur snapped a personal three-game losing streak by making 21 saves and stopping all three of Pittsburgh's attempts in the shootout.

"Every time you win 40 games or get to these certain plateaus, they're pretty special," Brodeur said. "There (are) not many guys that are able to say that. For me, I play a lot of games, so I expect a certain amount of wins every single season. I think it feels good to get 40 that early (in the season)."

The two-time Vezina Trophy winner made a glove save in the third round on superstar Sidney Crosby, who had scored in each of the Penguins' previous three trips to the bonus format.

"I was trying to go low glove (side)," Crosby said. "(Brodeur) did the same thing to all three guys. He gave the glove side (and then took it away). He's a veteran. He knows what he's doing. On all three shots, he gave it to us and then was waiting for us to go there, and we all went there."

Pittsburgh forged a 3-3 tie with 2:38 remaining in the third period, when rookie Evgeni Malkin stole a back pass at the right side of the net and centered for Michel Ouellet, who scored his 14th goal of the campaign on a shot from the slot.

"It was a bone-headed play, and 17,000 people saw it," said Devils center Scott Gomez, who committed the turnover. "It was the wrong time to make a mistake. But hey, we got the two points, and now we move on."

Rookie Travis Zajac had given the Devils a 3-2 lead with 8:22 remaining by knocking his own rebound on the doorstep over Fleury's glove for his 13th tally.

"(Jamie) Langenbrunner shot it and it somehow squeaked by (Fleury), and it almost went in," Zajac said. "Then it came to me on the side and I sort of shoved it off of him. I think it went off him and eventually made its way in."

"The (initial) shot hit my defense and just ended up on the other guy's blade and I got it with my arm, but it just bounced in," Fleury said.

The goal came moments after Brodeur yielded a bad-angle shorthander by defenseman Sergei Gonchar, who banked the puck off the goalie's skate from behind the goal line.

Rookie blue-liner Andy Greene netted his first career goal and Sergei Brylin added his 15th for New Jersey, which improved to 11-1-2 in its last 14 road games.

"You take that first step toward the middle of the ice and just kind of throw it on net," Greene said of his tally. "That's the story I am sticking to. I just threw it on net and see what happens."

Although they are 14th in the Eastern Conference in goals (183), the Devils moved within three points of the idle Buffalo Sabres (44-17-5) for the top spot in the conference standings.

"We were a couple men short and a lot of guys got a lot of ice time," Julien said. "It was nice to see everybody come up with a good, strong effort. Everybody competed hard. There's no doubt that we made a few mistakes that ended up in goals against, but we kept working and persevering."

Malkin scored his 30th goal - and 14th on the power play - in the first period, Crosby registered his league-best 72nd assist and Fleury stopped 36 shots for the Penguins, who fell to 11-1-2 in their last 14 home contests.

"It's always better to get two points with the win, but New Jersey has a good team and the guys didn't quit," Fleury said. "They kept playing until the end and we were able to get a good point."

"He made some big saves and really gave us a chance to get back into it at the end," Crosby said of Fleury. "He's done that so often and it's good that we were able to get that point. He's really done his job of giving us a chance every night."