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Devils' Brodeur shuts down Blue Jackets

Oct 29, 2006 - 1:10 AM EAST RUTHERFORD, New Jersey (Ticker) -- The New Jersey Devils' return to basics is paying dividends, particularly for Martin Brodeur.

Brodeur recorded his second straight shutout to grab sole possession of fourth place on the NHL's all-time list as the Devils held on for a 1-0 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Two nights after blanking Florida for his 82nd career shutout, Brodeur stopped 22 shots to move past Jacques Plante on the all-time list. He needs one more to tie Glenn Hall for third place.

"Every time you move forward in the rankings, it's great. But winning is what it's all about," Brodeur said. "Today was another example of what happens when we take care of our own zone."

Brodeur came up with his biggest save of the night during a Blue Jackets' power play with 4:32 remaining, when he kicked out his left pad to deny Nikolai Zherdev on a point-blank rebound.

"I thought that was a pretty hard shot. I don't know how he saw it," said Nash, who has gone six games without a goal. "But he's one of the best goalies in the league, one of the best there's ever been."

With both teams down a man in the final minute, Brodeur made a chest stop on Rick Nash's one-time blast from the right faceoff circle.

Columbus became the 25th team blanked during a 13-year career by Brodeur, who leads the NHL with three shutouts this season.

"A 1-0 shutout is always a little tougher because you know that the next goal, the (other) guys are right back in it and then you can lose the game," Brodeur said.

Zach Parise scored the lone goal with 5:55 left in the second period as New Jersey won its second straight following a three-game losing streak.

Pascal Leclaire made 20 saves for Columbus, which has lost five of its last six.

"That's a season full of shutouts," Parise said of Brodeur's career total. "That's unbelievable. When we have him in the nets, we have all the confidence in the world."

"I was happy with a lot of things tonight," said Blue Jackets coach Gerard Gallant, whose team was coming off a 2-0 win over Los Angeles. "Obviously, I would have liked to have won the hockey game, but I thought we played an even game with New Jersey in their building, back-to-back nights for us."

On the Devils' tally, rookie Travis Zajac shot wide from the slot, but Parise got the rebound off the end boards and banked it off the stick of a Columbus defender and past Leclaire for his fifth goal of the season.

"I noticed (Leclaire) was sprawled out, so I just spun and wanted to put it on net. And it went in," said Parise, who did not score his fifth goal last season until December 21.

"The puck was sitting there and I was a little too far out of my net to come back," Leclaire said.

Once they had the lead, the Devils played the kind of suffocating defense for which they've become famous. They held the Blue Jackets to four shots in the second period - none over the final 8 1/2 minutes.

"That was classic Devils' hockey," Parise said. "I don't think we gave them a lot of room and I think that's what we were getting away from."

"I'm glad we're not in this division," Nash said. "They trap it up and take away your chances. Obviously, it's frustrating."