• Recap
• Bleachers

Brodeur carries Devils past Rangers

Jan 17, 2007 - 4:42 AM EAST RUTHERFORD, New Jersey (Ticker) -- There is no shortage of superlatives to describe Martin Brodeur, who showed yet again why he is the best goaltender in the NHL.

Brodeur posted his league-leading eighth shutout of the season and the 88th of his career with 26 saves to lead the New Jersey Devils to a 1-0 victory over the archrival New York Rangers.

Brad Lukowich scored in the first period for the Devils, who have won three straight, are 11-2-2 in their last 15 games and 16-5-2 in their last 23. They increased their lead over second-place New York to 10 points in the Atlantic Division.

Brodeur is second all-time to Patrick Roy in wins and third in shutouts, trailing legends Terry Sawchuk (103) and George Hainsworth (94).

"I'm approaching it quicker than I thought this year, having more shutouts than I thought I was going to get at this time," Brodeur said. "It ain't moving. If I continue the way I play and the team plays like that, I think there'll be a chance, but not for another few years. More than a few years."

Henrik Lundqvist finished with 31 saves as the Rangers lost for the third time in four games and fell to 3-2 against New Jersey this season. Lundqvist got little help from the Devils, who had each of the game's four power plays.

"Next time we play them, we're going for the first goal," Lundqvist said. "That should open it up a bit."

Lukowich scored his second goal of the season - just the fifth by a Devils defenseman when his fluttering wrist shot from the left point found its way through traffic and the pads of Lundqvist.

"I was just throwing it in there, trying to get a tip or something," Lukowich said. "The defenseman turned it over and I was just throwing it in there. I saw they (Travis Zajac, Jamie Langenbrunner and Zach Parise) were still in front of the net battling hard."

"I thought I had my legs closed," Lundqvist said. "Then I saw it right in front of me, and it went in."

Both teams came out firing in an action-packed first period, but Brodeur never gave way. He turned away a wide-open one-timer by defenseman Marek Malik less than five minutes in, denied Brendan Shanahan on a partial breakaway roughly three minutes later and thwarted three shots during a goalmouth scramble with 7:05 remaining.

"Early in the game (Shanahan) gets a breakaway, if he scores on that, it could be different," Brodeur said of what he termed his best save of the game. "Funny how guys were giving it to me because I stacked the pads in the shootout and he beat me. I told them I could do it and I was like, 'You see?' It was a similar chance and I just got a piece of it."

"Marty's been playing great, and he made a great save there," defenseman Colin White said. "It gave us a little momentum when we needed it."

Brodeur stopped nine shots in the first period, eight in the second and nine in the third, including a sprawling stop on a backhand shot from Martin Straka from close range with 3:44 remaining.

"We had the puck around their net quite a bit," Rangers coach Tom Renney said. "I thought Marty had to make some pretty big saves quite a bit. We had the opportunity to score the tying goal. The score was 1-0 New Jersey. I guess it sort of fits."

The Devils had a chance before and after Lukowich's goal, as Patrik Elias rang the post with 13:30 remaining and linemate Brian Gionta had a goal disallowed with 4:59 left because he knocked it in with his glove.

The Devils had a chance to double the lead three minutes into the second period but Jamie Langenbrunner, alone in front after a feed from Zach Parise, shot the puck over the net.