Vintage Martin Brodeur and the New Jersey Devils Shoot Down the Ducks
On Friday night the New Jersey Devils did what not many teams have been able to do lately – defeat the Anaheim Ducks. New Jersey led 2-0 before thwarting another furious Anaheim rally to eventually come away with a 3-2 shootout win.
The game had all the intensity of a seven-game playoff series except these teams haven’t played eachother in over a year. It was similar to a WWE match where both sides take turns sucker punching the other one until somebody finally comes away with the victory. On this night it would be the Devils.
New Jersey could not have survived without the stellar and sometimes acrobatic goaltending of Martin Brodeur. The 39-year-old goalie, who owns the NHL records for career wins, shutouts and games played turned aside 36 shots for the win.
It was the side of Marty Devils fans have unfortunately not seen in a quite some time, but he has steadily picked up his play culminating with a full effort and victory against a very motivated Ducks team.
Brodeur was at his best in the third period and overtime – making several spectacular saves when it seemed like the Ducks would not go away. Anaheim eventually clawed their way back to force overtime, but it was because of their sheer will and determination and nothing else.
It was great to see Brodeur dig deep into his bag of tricks throughout the game, even using the vintage two-pad stack a couple of times to turn away good scoring opportunities. It was almost as if he was channeling his late 90′s self.
Marty was named first star of the game and rightfully so. Without him the Ducks would have left New Jersey with a sure two points.
Brodeur improved to 20-13-2 on the season, meaning he is a 20-game winner for the 16th time in his Hall of Fame career and with 25 games left he still has plenty of time to reach 30 wins.
If Marty can keep playing like this than the Devils instantly became a real threat come playoff time. I firmly believe this team has a long playoff run in them.
With the win New Jersey improved to 7-1-1 in their last nine at the Prudential Center and remain sixth in the Eastern Conference standings – two points ahead of the Ottawa Senators and a full seven points ahead of ninth place Washington. Yes, that is called breathing room.
The Devils fly to Montreal to face a desperate Canadiens team and yes Martin Brodeur will be in net for that game too.
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