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Martin, fellow defensemen propel Devils in rout

Feb 10, 2008 - 4:57 AM NEWARK, New Jersey (Ticker) -- The New Jersey Devils' defensemen were incredibly offensive on Saturday.

Paul Martin netted two goals and fellow blue-liners Colin White and Johnny Oduya also scored as the Devils erupted for four goals in the first period and cruised to a 6-1 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes.

Dainius Zubrus and Jay Pandolfo also scored for New Jersey, which saw three different defensemen score a goal in the same game for the first time since Viacheslav Fetisov, Alexei Kasatonov and then-rookie Scott Niedermayer tallied in a 6-1 victory over the San Jose Sharks on November 7, 1992.

It also was the third time this season - and second in eight days - in which New Jersey recorded four goals in a period. The Devils scored four times in the second session of a 6-3 win over the Los Angeles Kings last Saturday, as well as four times in the third period of a 6-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning on October 31.

"It's always a good thing when your defense can contribute offensively," Devils coach Brent Sutter said. "They're trying to make some things happen in the offensive zone without taking chances. That's a good thing. You need offense from everybody."

"I think we were just able to get shots to the net, and guys did a good job screening," Martin said. "It was one of those nights where it was just going to find the back of the net."

Keith Aucoin tallied for the Hurricanes, who have scored just four goals in their last four games.

"I think we got to get into those scoring areas and get those dirty goals and capitalize on those rebounds," Carolina goaltender Cam Ward said of his team's offensive woes.

White opened the scoring 3:08 into the first period, blasting a shot from the left point past Ward for his second goal of the season.

"Clarkie (David Clarkson) made a nice read," White said. "Erik Cole came down, (and I) was going to look for the hit behind the net on him, and that's who covers me. Clarkie read that, just banked it back (and) I had a lot of time. Pando (Pandolfo) and John Madden were in front just creating havoc like I said, and it just found a way in."

Martin doubled the advantage just 2:45 later with for a power-play goal. Captain Jamie Langenbrunner found Patrik Elias, who fired a cross-ice feed to Martin for a slapper that sailed past Ward.

"Since I've been here, we haven't seen that much pressure from the back end," Martin said. "Obviously, we're happy about it, (but) the thing about the league is, now you have to get ready for the next game, build on it and hopefully keep going."

After Aucoin halved the deficit under five minutes later, Oduya regained the Devils' two-goal lead with a brilliant individual effort. The defenseman gained possession of the puck behind his own net, skated the length of the ice and weaved around multiple defenders before wristing the puck past Ward.

"I just took the puck up and skated through," Oduya said. "Their D went kind of wide and (I) just took it to the net and got a shot off. Luckily, it went between his pads."

"He made a nice end-to-end rush, but there's no way we can let him enter the zone the way that he did," Ward said. "It seemed like everything was a lot easier for the Devils - like the way we played (in a 2-1 win) against the Capitals last night."

Zubrus made it 4-1 with 2:02 remaining in the session, tipping in a shot by Brian Gionta for his ninth goal of the season.

Martin recorded his second tally of the game just 89 seconds into the middle period, accepting a feed from Elias and slapping the puck past Ward.

Pandolfo added his second goal in as many nights, beating Ward from in close to give New Jersey a 6-1 lead. That spelled the end of the night for the 2006 Conn Smythe Trophy winner, who finished with 14 saves.

"(Clarkson) made the whole play, and then me and John Madden just went on a 2-on-1," Pandolfo said. "I gave a pass to Johnny, and Johnny made a great play, just hesitating and waiting for me to get open - and he made a great pass."

John Grahame came in with 5:19 remaining in the second period and made six saves.

"We didn't come out in the first period with the intensity that we needed or talked about," Ward said. "We dug ourselves in a pretty big hole early."

Martin Brodeur finished with 22 saves to improve to 30-12-0 with five ties in 47 career starts against the Hurricanes.

"We played well, we played smart," Brodeur said. "We didn't start and try to score nine or 10 goals. We just went out and played solid. It made my job easy."