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Parise, Elias lead Devils over Islanders in opener

Oct 11, 2008 - 4:28 AM NEWARK, New Jersey (Ticker) -- It did not take long for Martin Brodeur to chip away at Patrick Roy's lead atop the all-time wins list.

Thanks to goals by Zach Parise and Patrik Elias, Brodeur inched closer to the Hall of Famer's record as the New Jersey Devils hung on for a 2-1 victory over the New York Islanders in the regular-season opener for both teams on Friday.

"I thought we did a lot of good things," Devils coach Brent Sutter said. "Our (penalty-killing) was good, we got a power-play goal, we played a team that worked hard and had good speed. I thought in the third period, we played a very intelligent game. Our goaltender played well. He made some great saves. It was a good first game. It's a good start."

The 36-year-old Brodeur made 25 saves en route to his 539th career win, moving within 12 of Roy's 551.

"They came out strong all game long," the native of Montreal said. "They were around the net, especially after the first period. They got a lot of shots, throwing the pucks on net and keeping it simple. They got some opportunities and a couple of rebounds."

Brodeur stopped several golden opportunities for the Islanders, including a penalty shot by Kyle Okposo late in the first period. The Islanders' prospect unleashed a rising shot ticketed for the top right corner of the net, but Brodeur knocked away the puck with his glove.

"After a lucky goal they got off my defenseman's skate, they get a penalty shot right away," Brodeur said. "You put yourself behind the eight ball, and it was good to get a glove on his shot."

The Islanders, who went 6-1-1 against the Devils last season, took a 1-0 lead 9:48 into the game. Newcomer Doug Weight's slap shot was redirected when the puck hit defenseman Paul Martin's skate, and Brodeur was unable to recover quick enough to prevent the puck from entering the net.

"It's a long year, so let's just take two points and move on," New Jersey's Bobby Holik said. "All aspects of our game could be better. We won - let's take the win and move on."

Parise helped pull the Devils even with a power-play goal three minutes later, when he grabbed the rebound of Martin's shot and backhanded it past goaltender Joey MacDonald.

Elias gave the Devils the lead for good 29 seconds into the middle session by converting a pass from Brian Gionta. Gionta gained possession on the right side and quickly fed Elias, who tipped the puck under the pads of MacDonald from the doorstep.

"Our power play wasn't great tonight, but it's going to take time, and we know that we'll be better," Elias said. "We'll take the two points. In the third, we did what we had to. We know we can be better."

Finding out earlier in the day he would start in goal, MacDonald stopped 27 shots for the Islanders, who were unsuccessful in Gordon's coaching debut.

"They told me this afternoon after the morning skate," MacDonald said. "They said, 'There's a good chance you could play tonight.' I was ready anyway. I was told to be ready for a couple of days. I thought the guys played pretty good. I felt good."

"It's not going to be perfection," Islanders first-year coach Scott Gordon said. "I think there's areas that we can be better in and I think there was things that we did well tonight. In the third period, one of the things that I thought was different between them and us, they took shots and we were looking for the perfect play. For us, it's about getting to a certain level."

Rick DiPietro, who played in only one preseason game while recovering from hip surgery last season, did not start but is expected to get the nod at home Saturday against the St. Louis Blues.

"He is still coming off an injury that we want to make sure he's getting every opportunity to get back in shape," Gordon said. "He hasn't had a lot of practice time and we just felt, give him another day."