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Brodeur stymies Islanders as Devils win fourth straight

Feb 9, 2007 - 6:16 AM EAST RUTHERFORD, New Jersey (Ticker) -- Martin Brodeur's amazing season just keeps getting better.

Brodeur posted his league-best 10th shutout of the season and Jamie Langenbrunner and Jay Pandolfo scored goals to boost the New Jersey Devils to their fourth straight win, a 2-0 victory over the New York Islanders.

Brodeur, who made 25 saves in posting his 90th career blanking, reached double digits in shutouts for the fourth time in his career and is one shy of equaling his personal best, established in 2003-04. He has recorded each of New Jersey's 34 wins this season and has a chance at eclipsing not only his career high of 43 victories, but also Bernie Parent's NHL single-season record of 47.

"He kept us in the game," Devils coach Claude Julien said. "The one thing that's good about him is that when called upon, he does make those kind of saves and gives your team a lot of confidence."

The 34-year-old Brodeur is second on the league's all-time wins list with 480, trailing only Patrick Roy (551), and third in shutouts behind Terry Sawchuk (104) and George Hainsworth (94).

"I'm really excited about this accomplishment," Brodeur said. "I've heard of (Hainsworth), but I could not pick him out of a lineup. He was a goalie that played in an era where a lot of guys did great stuff."

Langenbrunner netted his 19th goal of the season midway through the second period, extending his points streak to five games. With the game scoreless, Langenbrunner jammed a loose puck under the right pad of prone goaltender Rick DiPietro near the left goalpost at 10:42, just after Zach Parise's attempted pass during a 2-on-1 rush failed to reach its target.

"(DiPietro) didn't have it covered by any means," Langenbrunner said. "He was trying to hold his leg there. We got a little lucky in that when Zach went to pass it across, it didn't get there."

The NHL's "Second Star" last week, Langenbrunner has three goals and six assists during his streak. Linemate Parise, who had his four-game goal-scoring run halted, also extended his points streak to five games with an assist on the tally.

Brodeur's defense was air-tight early in the game, making the Islanders wait 13:28 to record their first shot. Jason Blake was stopped from close range in a flurry that accounted for a pair of shots against fellow All-Star Brodeur. New Jersey had the first eight shots of the contest.

"I've played for so long, I've seen every single situation," Brodeur said. "A lot of shots, no shots, I have done it all."

Blake had a chance to score on New York's first power play with six minutes remaining in the second period, looking at an open net from the bottom of the slot only to have former teammate Brad Lukowich check him off the puck as he was about to shoot.

"Marty just kind of yelled, 'Behind you,'" Lukowich said. "I turned around and saw (Blake), threw myself in that direction and must have got him off-balance. More than anything, I think he was surprised someone pushed him. If that was enough to throw a little kink in there, then good."

"(Lukowich) has been playing real well for us for a long time," Julien said.

Blake remains a goal away from his career high of 28.

DiPietro was significantly busier that Brodeur, who made three saves in the first period and 11 in each of the final two sessions. DiPietro stopped 35 shots, including 15 in the opening period and 14 in the third.

"I thought Ricky was sensational the whole game," Islanders coach Ted Nolan said.

"If we would have won, I would have felt pretty good," DiPietro said. "A loss is a loss, and it's no fun."

With 3:36 left and New York on its second power play of the game, Pandolfo converted a give-and-go with John Madden, redirecting the puck past DiPietro from the top of the crease off a return pass from the right faceoff circle.

"Once I saw John cut behind me, I just dropped it for him and went to the net," said Pandolfo, who has eight goals. "He did the rest. He put the puck right on my stick."

The Devils improved to 5-1-1 since the All-Star break and 15-2-3 in their last 20 games. They also raised their home record to 20-4-4 in their final season at Continental Airlines Arena.

The Islanders and three playoff-bound teams - the Buffalo Sabres, Detroit Red Wings and Atlanta Thrashers - are the only clubs to notch regulation victories in New Jersey this season.

The Islanders, who fell to 1-3-1 against the Devils this campaign, had their eight-game points streak halted. New York is 7-4-1 in the back end of games played on consecutive days, going 5-6-1 in the openers. They shut out Philadelphia, 2-0, on Wednesday.

"We played well, but not as well as we have been," Nolan said. "We played average tonight. We just came up on the short end."