GAME THREAD: GAME THREAD: NHL: NEW JERSEY (9-12) at ATLANTA (11-10)

NHL: NEW JERSEY (9-12) at ATLANTA (11-10)

<h3>Brodeur, Devils face red-hot Thrashers</h3>

<div class="pre">New Jersey (9-10-2) at Atlanta (11-10-0) 7:30 pm EST</div>

ATLANTA (Ticker) - For Martin Brodeur to reach 502 career winsFriday, he will have to shutdown one of the NHL's hottest teams.

The three-time Vezina Trophy winner will look to lead the NewJersey Devils to their third straight win when they visit thesurging Atlanta Thrashers.


Brodeur followed up his historic 500th career win against therival Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday with a 25-save performancein Wednesday's 2-1 triumph over the Pittsburgh Penguins.

The 14-year veteran, who became the first goaltender in NHLhistory to win 500 games with one team, is 50 wins shy ofPatrick Roy's all-time record of 551. Despite his recent surge,Brodeur is off to slow start by his standards, going just7-10-1 with a 2.60 goals-against average.


The Thrashers are finally starting to look like the team thatwon the franchise's first division title last season. Aftergetting swept out of the playoffs, Atlanta started the 2007-08campaign with six consecutive losses, prompting a coachingchange.


The move has worked - since general manager Don Waddell replacedBob Hartley behind the bench, the Thrashers are 11-4-0.

The biggest reason for Atlanta's quick turn around has been theplay of Ilya Kovalchuk, who leads the NHL with 19 goals and has33 points on the season. The 24-year-old Kovalchuk has at leasta goal and assist in each of his previous four contests,tallying five goals and six assists in that span.

 

NHL: NEW JERSEY at ATLANTA

<div class="pre">NHL AT ATLANTA
STARTING GOALIES: NJD - MARTIN BRODEUR
ATL - JOHAN HEDBERG

OFFICIALS: REF - DAN O'ROURKE, DON VAN MASSENHOVEN
LIN - DON HENDERSON, SCOTT DRISCOLL</div>

 

NHL: NEW JERSEY at ATLANTA

<div class="pre">NEW JERSEY VS ATLANTA - SCRATCHES

NEW JERSEY ATLANTA

P ELIAS FLU S MCCARTHY HEALTHY
D HAYDAR HEALTHY</div>

 

NHL: NEW JERSEY at ATLANTA

<div class="pre">NHL NEW JERSEY 0
ATLANTA 0 19:37 LEFT, 1ST PRD</div>

 

NHL: NEW JERSEY at ATLANTA

<div class="pre">NHL NEW JERSEY 0
ATLANTA 0 16:28 LEFT, 1ST PRD</div>

 

NHL: NEW JERSEY at ATLANTA

<div class="pre">NHL NEW JERSEY 0
ATLANTA 0 13:10 LEFT, 1ST PRD</div>

 

NHL: NEW JERSEY at ATLANTA

<div class="pre">NHL NEW JERSEY 0
ATLANTA 0 9:20 LEFT, 1ST PRD</div>

 

NHL: NEW JERSEY at ATLANTA

<div class="pre">NHL NEW JERSEY 0
ATLANTA 0 5:58 LEFT, 1ST PRD</div>

 

NHL: NEW JERSEY at ATLANTA

<div class="pre">NHL NEW JERSEY 0
ATLANTA 0 2:49 LEFT, 1ST PRD</div>

 

NHL: NEW JERSEY at ATLANTA

<div class="pre">NHL END OF THE 1ST 1ST 2ND 3RD TOTAL
--- --- --- -----
NEW JERSEY 0 0
ATLANTA 0 0 END OF THE 1ST

GOAL SCORING:

1ST PRD: NONE

SHOTS ON GOAL: 1ST 2ND 3RD TOTAL
--- --- --- -----
NJD 7 7
ATL 8 8

GOALIES: NJD - MARTIN BRODEUR
ATL - JOHAN HEDBERG</div>

 

NHL: NEW JERSEY at ATLANTA

<div class="pre">------------------------
New Jersey 0 --0
Atlanta 0 --0
------------------------

FIRST PERIOD -- Scoring: None. Penalties: S Brookbank, Njd (holding), 19:06.

Shots on goal:
-----------------------------
New Jersey 7 --7
Atlanta 8 --8
-----------------------------

Goalies : New Jersey, Martin Brodeur (8 shots, 8 saves). Atlanta,
Johan Hedberg (7 shots, 7 saves). Referees: Dan O'Rourke, Don Van
Massenhoven. Linesmen: Don Henderson, Scott Driscoll.</div>

 

NHL: NEW JERSEY at ATLANTA

<div class="pre">NHL NEW JERSEY 0
ATLANTA 0 19:55 LEFT, 2ND PRD</div>

 

NHL: NEW JERSEY at ATLANTA

<div class="pre">NHL NEW JERSEY 0
ATLANTA 0 16:21 LEFT, 2ND PRD</div>

 

NHL: NEW JERSEY at ATLANTA

<div class="pre">NHL NEW JERSEY 0
ATLANTA 0 13:25 LEFT, 2ND PRD</div>

 

NHL: NEW JERSEY at ATLANTA

<div class="pre">NHL NEW JERSEY 1
ATLANTA 0
2ND PRD: NJD - ROD PELLEY 2 (DAINIUS ZUBRUS, JAMIE LANGENBRUNNER) 8:59</div>

 

NHL: NEW JERSEY at ATLANTA

<div class="pre">NHL NEW JERSEY 1
ATLANTA 0 7:37 LEFT, 2ND PRD</div>

 

NHL: NEW JERSEY at ATLANTA

<div class="pre">NHL NEW JERSEY 1
ATLANTA 0 3:58 LEFT, 2ND PRD</div>

 

NHL: NEW JERSEY at ATLANTA

<div class="pre">NHL NEW JERSEY 2
ATLANTA 0
2ND PRD: NJD - (PP) TRAVIS ZAJAC 5 (PAUL MARTIN, BRIAN GIONTA) 16:24
(TWO-MAN ADVANTAGE)</div>

 

NHL: NEW JERSEY at ATLANTA

<div class="pre">NHL NEW JERSEY 2
ATLANTA 0 2:05 LEFT, 2ND PRD</div>

 

NHL: NEW JERSEY at ATLANTA

<div class="pre">NHL END OF THE 2ND 1ST 2ND 3RD TOTAL
--- --- --- -----
NEW JERSEY 0 2 2
ATLANTA 0 0 0 END OF THE 2ND

GOAL SCORING:

1ST PRD: NONE
2ND PRD: NJD - ROD PELLEY 2 (DAINIUS ZUBRUS, JAMIE LANGENBRUNNER)
8:59
NJD - (PP) TRAVIS ZAJAC 5 (PAUL MARTIN, BRIAN GIONTA) 16:24

SHOTS ON GOAL: 1ST 2ND 3RD TOTAL
--- --- --- -----
NJD 7 12 19
ATL 8 6 14

GOALIES: NJD - MARTIN BRODEUR
ATL - JOHAN HEDBERG</div>