• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers
• Game Tracker

Brodeur, Devils blank Blue Jackets

Mar 21, 2011 - 3:49 AM Columbus, OH (Sports Network) - David Clarkson scored twice and Martin Brodeur turned aside all 13 shots for his fifth shutout of the season, as the New Jersey Devils earned a 3-0 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena.

Nick Palmieri also tallied, while Mattias Tedenby notched a pair of assists for the Devils, who snapped a brief two-game slide and are now 24-5-2 in the their last 31 contests overall, but are still on the outside looking in for a playoff berth in the Eastern Conference.

The Devils have 72 points and are seven behind Buffalo for the eighth and final spot.

"I thought we played really, really well," Devils head coach Jacques Lemaire said.

Brodeur stopped two shots in the first, five in the second and six in the third period to record his 115th career shutout, the most in NHL history.

Steve Mason made 28 saves for Columbus, which has dropped 10 of its last 12.

"It's a crappy feeling and an embarrassing effort tonight. It's frustrating. We just couldn't generate anything in their zone," Mason said.

Clarkson opened the scoring 9:24 into the contest when he put home a rebound after Mason made the initial save on Jacob Josefson's backhander.

Then in the second, Clarkson tallied his second of the game, in a similar fashion to his first. Mason knocked down Tedenby's shot, but was unable to control the rebound. As Mason was down and out of position looking for the puck, Clarkson found it and put it into the open net for a 2-0 lead at 8:50.

New Jersey was bidding for a three-goal cushion moments later, but Mason stopped Ilya Kovalchuk on a breakaway and it was 2-0 after two periods.

Palmieri closed out the scoring 3:22 into the third stanza on a giveaway. After Kovalchuk was stopped on a rush, defenseman Kris Russell skated carelessly out in front of his own net and Palmieri stole the puck and shot it in the same motion, beating Mason between the pads.

Game Notes

The Devils have won four straight and six of the last eight meetings in this series versus Columbus...New Jersey improved to 16-19-1 on the road this season, while the Blue Jackets fell to 16-16-4 at home.