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Brodeur injured as Devils rout Thrashers

Nov 2, 2008 - 3:59 AM NEWARK, New Jersey (Ticker) -- While the New Jersey Devils continued to have little difficulty scoring, they might have some upcoming problems in goal.

Zach Parise extended his goal-scoring streak to a franchise record-tying six games with a pair of goals and defenseman Johnny Oduya notched three assists as the Devils overcame an injury to reigning Vezina Trophy winner Martin Brodeur on Saturday and rolled to a 6-1 triumph over the Atlanta Thrashers.

Nicklas Bergfors opened the scoring with his first career goal and Patrik Elias and Jay Pandolfo also tallied for New Jersey, which snapped a three-game losing streak in improving to 6-0-2 in its last eight meetings with Atlanta.

Vyacheslav Kozlov netted the lone goal for the Thrashers, who have been outscored, 29-12, during a six-game losing streak.

Parise became the fifth Devil to score in six straight contests and first since current teammate Bobby Holik accomplished the feat in December 1998. He also joined Pat Verbeek, Valeri Zelepukin and Kirk Muller by netting both of his goals during New Jersey's five-goal second period.

The performance became an afterthought as Brodeur was forced the leave the contest after making a save on Todd White in the second period.

Closing in on the all-time records for wins and shutouts, Brodeur stopped all five shots he faced before departing at 6:38 of the middle session with a bruised left elbow. Even though Brodeur sprawled to the ice to stop White's attempt from in front, Devils coach Brent Sutter believed the injury occurred 10 seconds earlier on a shot by the Thrashers center.

"I think it was that first shot," Sutter said. "He stretched out to try to make the glove save. Now, I'm just assuming. He came around and there was some activity around the net. I don't know exactly, but he did get hit earlier with the shot there, too."

"You don't want to see anyone go down," New Jersey captain Jamie Langenbrunner said. "Obviously, he's pretty important for us. We all hope that it's not anything too serious. Knowing Marty, if he can play, he'll play Monday (against Buffalo)."

Brodeur became the latest Devil to suffer an injury during the first month of the season. New Jersey already is without Holik, Brian Rolston and defenseman Andy Greene, who underwent surgery on his broken hand Friday and is out four to six weeks.

However, Elias claimed the team is not overly concerned.

"You don't worry about it," he said. "The guys that have stepped in have done a good job. Sometimes you go through it. We'll be fine. We're a good-enough team."

Kevin Weekes came on for Brodeur and turned aside 14-of-15 shots after inheriting a 3-0 lead in his first appearance of the season.

"That was tough," said Weekes, who saw action in just nine games as Brodeur's backup last campaign. "Hopefully, he'll be back and makes a complete recovery. Guys just did a great job tonight. They really helped me a lot by blocking shots. Even when we were up by three, four goals, I still saw guys blocking shots."

New Jersey, which has scored 25 times in its last six games, netted the first six goals of the contest. It tallied five times in the second period alone, chasing Johan Hedberg, who made 20 saves before giving way to Ondrej Pavelec.

"They feel confident, and confidence has a lot to do with it right now," Elias said. "You have to work on it. You do a little more drills to work on scoring and shots (during practice), and it carries into the game."

Recalled from the minors earlier in the day as Kari Lehtonen is suffering from an illness, Pavelec turned aside all six shots he faced in the third.

It was the second lopsided loss of the week for Atlanta, which dropped a 7-0 decision to Philadelphia on Monday.

"We're a fragile team right now," Thrashers coach John Anderson said. "When that happens, you're a fragile team. They scored four (off weird bounces) because of our fragile mental state. It's a really tough night."

"There's no reason for us having these meltdowns," Hedberg said. "For whatever reason, we can't seem to get it together."

The Devils scored six goals for the first time since February 9 against Carolina, and did so by capitalizing on some breaks.

Bergfors opened the scoring with 5:50 remaining in the first, when he pried the puck away from defenseman Mathieu Schneider behind the net. Using teammate Dainius Zubrus as a screen, Bergfors fired a shot from the right circle that beat Hedberg to the glove side.

The Devils caught another break just 2:34 into the second as Elias' pass through the slot that was intended for Brian Gionta went off Schneider's stick and past Hedberg. It was Elias' third goal of the season but first in three weeks.

On the next shift, New Jersey struck again. Parise drove to the net from the right side and jammed in his own rebound at 3:32 for a 3-0 bulge. Gionta scored on a similar play during a man advantage at 9:28, and Pandolfo and Parise tallied 22 seconds apart in the final minute of the session to complete the uprising.

For Parise, the tally capped his 11th career two-goal performance.

"We were a team where our awareness was very good tonight," Sutter said. "We were good in all three zones."