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

NHL: NEW JERSEY at ATLANTA

<div class="pre">------------------------------
New Jersey 0 2 --2
Atlanta 0 0 --0
------------------------------

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

SECOND PERIOD -- Scoring: 1, New Jersey, Rod Pelley 2 (Dainius Zubrus,
Jamie Langenbrunner), 8:59. 2, New Jersey, Travis Zajac 5 (power play)
(Paul Martin, Brian Gionta), 16:24. Penalties: M Hossa, Atl
(interference), 1:25; K Klee, Atl (hooking), 16:02; T Enstrom, Atl
(hooking), 16:09; J Pandolfo, Njd (high sticking), 19:11.

Shots on goal:
----------------------------------
New Jersey 7 12 --19
Atlanta 8 6 --14
----------------------------------

Goalies : New Jersey, Martin Brodeur (14 shots, 14 saves). Atlanta,
Johan Hedberg (19 shots, 17 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 2
ATLANTA 0 19:55 LEFT, 3RD PRD</div>

 

NHL: NEW JERSEY at ATLANTA

<div class="pre">NHL NEW JERSEY 2
ATLANTA 0 14:50 LEFT, 3RD PRD</div>

 

NHL: NEW JERSEY at ATLANTA

<div class="pre">NHL NEW JERSEY 2
ATLANTA 0 12:04 LEFT, 3RD PRD</div>

 

NHL: NEW JERSEY at ATLANTA

<div class="pre">NHL NEW JERSEY 2
ATLANTA 0 7:33 LEFT, 3RD PRD</div>

 

NHL: NEW JERSEY at ATLANTA

<div class="pre">NHL NEW JERSEY 2
ATLANTA 0 3:38 LEFT, 3RD PRD</div>

 

NHL: NEW JERSEY at ATLANTA

<div class="pre">NHL NEW JERSEY 2
ATLANTA 0 1:32 LEFT, 3RD PRD</div>

 

NHL: NEW JERSEY at ATLANTA

<div class="pre">NHL NEW JERSEY 3
ATLANTA 0
3RD PRD: NJD - (PP) (EN) JAY PANDOLFO 8 (JOHN MADDEN, JAMIE
LANGENBRUNNER) 19:32</div>

 

NHL: NEW JERSEY at ATLANTA

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

GOAL SCORING:

1ST PRD: NONE
2ND PRD: NJD - ROD PELLEY 2 (DAINIUS ZUBRUS, JAMIE LANGENBRUNNER)
8:59
NJD - (PP) PAUL MARTIN 1 (BRIAN GIONTA, JAMIE LANGENBRUNNER)
16:24
3RD PRD: NJD - (PP) JAY PANDOLFO 8 (JOHN MADDEN, JAMIE LANGENBRUNNER)
19:32

POWER-PLAY CONVERSIONS: NJD - 1 OF 3, ATL - 0 OF 2.

SHOTS ON GOAL: 1ST 2ND 3RD TOTAL
--- --- --- -----
NJD 7 12 7 26
ATL 8 6 8 22

GOALIES: NJD - MARTIN BRODEUR
ATL - JOHAN HEDBERG

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

ATT: NA</div>

 

By Phil Foley
PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer


ATLANTA (Ticker) - The New Jersey Devils finally found their wayback to the .500 mark.


Martin Brodeur stopped all 22 shots he faced to record his 502ndNHL victory and Paul Martin notched a goal in his return to theice to lead the Devils to a 3-0 win over the Atlanta Thrasherson Friday.


The 35-year old Brodeur set aside eight shots in the first, sixin the second and eight in the third to notch his first shutoutof the season and 93rd of his impressive career.


Brodeur came up huge in the final period, stopping Pascal Dupuison a breakaway 11 minutes into the final session.


It has been a rough season thus far for the Devils (10-10-2),who began the campaign with nine contests on the road beforechristening the Prudential Center on October 27.


Thus, it came as no surprise that the Devils struggled to beginthe season, posting a 3-6-1 record in their first 10 games.

But New Jersey improved as the calendar flipped to November. TheDevils were 5-4-1 in their last 10 games, winning threestraight on the road entering their Friday night's contestagainst the red-hot Atlanta, which had won 11 of 15 afterstarting the season with six losses.


Brodeur and the Devils, however, grounded the high-flyingThrashers.


Two unlikely Devils skaters staked the three-time Vezina Trophywinning Brodeur two a 2-0 advantage.


Rodney Pelley recorded his second NHL goal with a wide-anglewraparound shot from just beneath the right faceoff circle. Theshot beat Atlanta netminder Johan Hedberg down low to give theDevils a 1-0 lead at 8:59 of the second period.


After Atlanta defensemen Ken Klee and Tobias Enstrom drewhooking penalties seven seconds apart in the second period,Martin scored for the first time this season and only the 15thtime in his NHL career at 16:24 of the second period.

Brian Gionta found Martin's stick with a pass from behind thenet. The 26-year old Martin blistered a one-timer from abovethe left faceoff circle past Hedberg to give the New Jersey atwo-goal cushion.


Martin had missed New Jersey's last three games with lower bodysoreness.


Jay Pandolfo added an empty-net goal with 28 seconds to salt thegame.


Jamie Langenbrunner assisted on all three goals for New Jersey.

Hedberg stopped 24 shots for the Thrashers, who snapped afour-game winning streak.

 

NHL: NEW JERSEY at ATLANTA

<div class="pre">** CONFIRMED **
NHL
NEW JERSEY 3
ATLANTA 0</div>

 

NHL: NEW JERSEY at ATLANTA

<div class="pre">CORRECTION

NHL FINAL 1ST 2ND 3RD TOTAL
--- --- --- -----
NEW JERSEY 0 2 1 3
ATLANTA 0 0 0 0 FINAL

GOAL SCORING:

1ST PRD: NONE
2ND PRD: NJD - ROD PELLEY 2 (DAINIUS ZUBRUS, JAMIE LANGENBRUNNER)
8:59
NJD - (PP) PAUL MARTIN 1 (BRIAN GIONTA, JAMIE LANGENBRUNNER)
16:24
3RD PRD: NJD - (EN) JAY PANDOLFO 8 (JOHN MADDEN, JAMIE LANGENBRUNNER)
19:32

POWER-PLAY CONVERSIONS: NJD - 1 OF 3, ATL - 0 OF 2.

SHOTS ON GOAL: 1ST 2ND 3RD TOTAL
--- --- --- -----
NJD 7 12 8 27
ATL 8 6 8 22

GOALIES: NJD - MARTIN BRODEUR
ATL - JOHAN HEDBERG

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

ATT: NA</div>

 

NHL: NEW JERSEY at ATLANTA

<div class="pre">------------------------------------
New Jersey 0 2 1 --3
Atlanta 0 0 0 --0
------------------------------------

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

SECOND PERIOD -- Scoring: 1, New Jersey, Rod Pelley 2 (Dainius Zubrus,
Jamie Langenbrunner), 8:59. 2, New Jersey, Paul Martin 1 (power play)
(Brian Gionta, Jamie Langenbrunner), 16:24. Penalties: M Hossa, Atl
(interference), 1:25; K Klee, Atl (hooking), 16:02; T Enstrom, Atl
(hooking), 16:09; J Pandolfo, Njd (high sticking), 19:11.

THIRD PERIOD -- Scoring: 3, New Jersey, Jay Pandolfo 8 (empty net)
(John Madden, Jamie Langenbrunner), 19:32.

Shots on goal:
---------------------------------------
New Jersey 7 12 8 --27
Atlanta 8 6 8 --22
---------------------------------------

Power-play Conversions: New Jersey - 1 of 3, Atlanta - 0 of 2. Goalies
: New Jersey, Martin Brodeur (22 shots, 22 saves; record: 8-10-1).
Atlanta, Johan Hedberg (26 shots, 24 saves; record: 8-5-0). A: NA.
Referees: Dan O'Rourke, Don Van Massenhoven. Linesmen: Don Henderson,
Scott Driscoll.</div>

 

NHL: NEW JERSEY at ATLANTA

<div class="pre">-----------------------------------------
NEW JERSEY 0 2 1 --3
ATLANTA 0 0 0 --0
-----------------------------------------

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

SECOND PERIOD -- Scoring: 1, New Jersey, Rod Pelley 2 (Dainius Zubrus,
Jamie Langenbrunner), 8:59. 2, New Jersey, Paul Martin 1 (power play)
(Brian Gionta, Jamie Langenbrunner), 16:24. Penalties: M Hossa, Atl
(interference), 1:25; K Klee, Atl (hooking), 16:02; T Enstrom, Atl
(hooking), 16:09; J Pandolfo, Njd (high sticking), 19:11.

THIRD PERIOD -- Scoring: 3, New Jersey, Jay Pandolfo 8 (empty net)
(John Madden, Jamie Langenbrunner), 19:32.

Shots on goal:
----------------------------------------
NEW JERSEY 7 12 8 --27
ATLANTA 8 6 8 --22
----------------------------------------

Power-play Conversions: NJD - 1 of 3, ATL - 0 of 2. Goalies : New
Jersey, Martin Brodeur (22 shots, 22 saves; record: 8-10-1). Atlanta,
Johan Hedberg (26 shots, 24 saves; record: 8-5-0). A: NA. Referees:
Dan O'Rourke, Don Van Massenhoven. Linesmen: Don Henderson, Scott
Driscoll.

INDIVIDUAL PLAYER STATISTICS

NEW JERSEY ATLANTA
G A +/- Shots G A +/- Shots
R Pelley 1 0 +1 1 B Little 0 0 even 4
J Madden 0 1 +1 3 E Perrin 0 0 even 1
B Gionta 0 1 even 0 T White 0 0 -1 0
J Langenbrunner0 3 +1 2 V Kozlov 0 0 -1 2
D Zubrus 0 1 +1 0 B Holik 0 0 -1 1
S Brylin 0 0 even 2 I Kovalchuk 0 0 -1 3
T Zajac 0 0 even 2 M Hossa 0 0 -1 4
V Vishnevski 0 0 even 0 G Exelby 0 0 -1 0
J Pandolfo 1 0 +1 4 K Klee 0 0 -1 0
A Asham 0 0 +1 1 J Slater 0 0 even 0
D Clarkson 0 0 even 3 C Thorburn 0 0 -1 1
M Mottau 0 0 +1 1 N Havelid 0 0 -1 2
J Oduya 0 0 even 0 B Larsen 0 0 -1 0
C White 0 0 +1 1 E Boulton 0 0 even 0
A Greene 0 0 even 0 T Enstrom 0 0 -1 0
P Martin 1 0 +2 2 M Popovic 0 0 even 1
S Brookbank 0 0 even 0 A Zhitnik 0 0 even 1
Z Parise 0 0 even 5 P Dupuis 0 0 even 2
P Elias FLU S McCarthy HEALTHY
D Haydar HEALTHY</div>

 

NHL: NEW JERSEY at ATLANTA

<div class="pre">------------------------------------
New Jersey 0 2 1 --3
Atlanta 0 0 0 --0
------------------------------------

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

SECOND PERIOD -- Scoring: 1, New Jersey, Rod Pelley 2 (Dainius Zubrus,
Jamie Langenbrunner), 8:59. 2, New Jersey, Paul Martin 1 (power play)
(Brian Gionta, Jamie Langenbrunner), 16:24. Penalties: M Hossa, Atl
(interference), 1:25; K Klee, Atl (hooking), 16:02; T Enstrom, Atl
(hooking), 16:09; J Pandolfo, Njd (high sticking), 19:11.

THIRD PERIOD -- Scoring: 3, New Jersey, Jay Pandolfo 8 (empty net)
(John Madden, Jamie Langenbrunner), 19:32.

Shots on goal:
---------------------------------------
New Jersey 7 12 8 --27
Atlanta 8 6 8 --22
---------------------------------------

Power-play Conversions: New Jersey - 1 of 3, Atlanta - 0 of 2. Goalies
: New Jersey, Martin Brodeur (22 shots, 22 saves; record: 8-10-1).
Atlanta, Johan Hedberg (26 shots, 24 saves; record: 8-5-0). A: 18,545.
Referees: Dan O'Rourke, Don Van Massenhoven. Linesmen: Don Henderson,
Scott Driscoll.</div>

 

NHL: NEW JERSEY at ATLANTA

<div class="pre">-----------------------------------------
NEW JERSEY 0 2 1 --3
ATLANTA 0 0 0 --0
-----------------------------------------

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

SECOND PERIOD -- Scoring: 1, New Jersey, Rod Pelley 2 (Dainius Zubrus,
Jamie Langenbrunner), 8:59. 2, New Jersey, Paul Martin 1 (power play)
(Brian Gionta, Jamie Langenbrunner), 16:24. Penalties: M Hossa, Atl
(interference), 1:25; K Klee, Atl (hooking), 16:02; T Enstrom, Atl
(hooking), 16:09; J Pandolfo, Njd (high sticking), 19:11.

THIRD PERIOD -- Scoring: 3, New Jersey, Jay Pandolfo 8 (empty net)
(John Madden, Jamie Langenbrunner), 19:32.

Shots on goal:
----------------------------------------
NEW JERSEY 7 12 8 --27
ATLANTA 8 6 8 --22
----------------------------------------

Power-play Conversions: NJD - 1 of 3, ATL - 0 of 2. Goalies : New
Jersey, Martin Brodeur (22 shots, 22 saves; record: 8-10-1). Atlanta,
Johan Hedberg (26 shots, 24 saves; record: 8-5-0). A: 18,545.
Referees: Dan O'Rourke, Don Van Massenhoven. Linesmen: Don Henderson,
Scott Driscoll.

INDIVIDUAL PLAYER STATISTICS

NEW JERSEY ATLANTA
G A +/- Shots G A +/- Shots
R Pelley 1 0 +1 1 B Little 0 0 even 4
J Madden 0 1 +1 3 E Perrin 0 0 even 1
B Gionta 0 1 even 0 T White 0 0 -1 0
J Langenbrunner0 3 +1 2 V Kozlov 0 0 -1 2
D Zubrus 0 1 +1 0 B Holik 0 0 -1 1
S Brylin 0 0 even 2 I Kovalchuk 0 0 -1 3
T Zajac 0 0 even 2 M Hossa 0 0 -1 4
V Vishnevski 0 0 even 0 G Exelby 0 0 -1 0
J Pandolfo 1 0 +1 4 K Klee 0 0 -1 0
A Asham 0 0 +1 1 J Slater 0 0 even 0
D Clarkson 0 0 even 3 C Thorburn 0 0 -1 1
M Mottau 0 0 +1 1 N Havelid 0 0 -1 2
J Oduya 0 0 even 0 B Larsen 0 0 -1 0
C White 0 0 +1 1 E Boulton 0 0 even 0
A Greene 0 0 even 0 T Enstrom 0 0 -1 0
P Martin 1 0 +2 2 M Popovic 0 0 even 1
S Brookbank 0 0 even 0 A Zhitnik 0 0 even 1
Z Parise 0 0 even 5 P Dupuis 0 0 even 2
P Elias FLU S McCarthy HEALTHY
D Haydar HEALTHY</div>

 

NHL: NEW JERSEY at ATLANTA

<div class="pre">** CONFIRMED **
NHL
NEW JERSEY 3
ATLANTA 0</div>

 

By Phil Foley
PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer


ATLANTA (Ticker) - The New Jersey Devils finally found their wayback to the .500 mark.


Martin Brodeur stopped all 22 shots he faced to record his 502ndNHL victory and Paul Martin notched a goal in his return to theice to lead the Devils to a 3-0 win over the Atlanta Thrasherson Friday.


The 35-year old Brodeur set aside eight shots in the first, sixin the second and eight in the third to notch his first shutoutof the season and 93rd of his impressive career.


"It's nice," Brodeur said of the shutout. "I think every yearyou're trying to get one. A lot of goalies have a lot ofshutouts this year. I was just trying to join the parade."

"It's not like any of us are really surprised (that Brodeurrecorded a shutout)," Devils coach Brent Sutter said. "Marty isMarty. He made key stops at key times. When your goaltendermakes key saves like that, it gives you confidence."

Brodeur came up huge in the final period, stopping Pascal Dupuison a breakaway 11 minutes into the final session.


"He's a winner," Dupuis said. "He's making big saves for histeam and they are playing better right now. Marty's a big partof that."


"Yeah, he played well, but we didn't come close to testing him,"Atlanta captain Bobby Holik said. "Not enough traffic. We gavehim a great opportunity to be good. We just didn't do enough toscore on him."


It has been a rough season thus far for the Devils (10-10-2),who began the campaign with nine contests on the road beforechristening the Prudential Center on October 27.


Thus, it came as no surprise that the Devils struggled to beginthe season, posting a 3-6-1 record in their first 10 games.

But New Jersey improved as the calendar flipped to November. TheDevils were 5-4-1 in their last 10 games, winning threestraight on the road entering their Friday night's contestagainst the red-hot Atlanta, which had won 11 of 15 afterstarting the season with six losses.


Brodeur and the Devils, however, grounded the high-flyingThrashers.


"We have been playing great and it carried over to tonight,"Martin said. "We have not been giving up too many chances. Weneed to keep our intensity up and keep making smart plays."

New Jersey's defense was solid, blocking 14 shots and limitingtwo of the hottest players in the league - Ilya Kovalchuk, wholeads the league with 19 goals, and line mate Marian Hossa, whotallied multi-point games in his last six contests - to justfour shots.


"It's a solid team effort," Sutter said. "Everyone is on thesame page and doing things correctly, playing within thestructure of the game we want to play. Everyone is doing thingsthe way they are supposed to. When you have that, you're goingto have success."


Two unlikely Devils skaters staked the three-time Vezina Trophywinning Brodeur two a 2-0 advantage.


Rodney Pelley recorded his second NHL goal with a wide-anglewraparound shot from just beneath the right faceoff circle. Theshot beat Atlanta netminder Johan Hedberg down low to give theDevils a 1-0 lead at 8:59 of the second period.


After Atlanta defensemen Ken Klee and Tobias Enstrom drewhooking penalties seven seconds apart in the second period,Martin scored for the first time this season and only the 15thtime in his NHL career at 16:24 of the second period.

Brian Gionta found Martin's stick with a pass from behind thenet. The 26-year old Martin blistered a one-timer from abovethe left faceoff circle past Hedberg to give the New Jersey atwo-goal cushion.


Martin had missed New Jersey's last three games with lower bodysoreness.


Jay Pandolfo added an empty-net goal with 28 seconds to salt thegame.


Jamie Langenbrunner assisted on all three goals for New Jersey,which have won three straight games for the first time thisseason.


"(The winning streak) is great," Langenbrunner added. "You needto string wins together in this league. We have three wins in arow and four of our last five. It's very important."

"Everything is about winning," Brodeur said. "You win, you feelgood. You don't win, you don't feel good about yourself. Theatmosphere here is 100 times better than two weeks ago."

Hedberg stopped 24 shots for the Thrashers, who snapped afour-game winning streak.

 

By Phil Foley
PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer


ATLANTA (Ticker) - The New Jersey Devils finally found their wayback to the .500 mark.


Martin Brodeur stopped all 22 shots he faced to record his 502ndNHL victory and Paul Martin notched a goal in his return to theice to lead the Devils to a 3-0 win over the Atlanta Thrasherson Friday.


The 35-year old Brodeur set aside eight shots in the first, sixin the second and eight in the third to notch his first shutoutof the season and 93rd of his impressive career.


"It's nice," Brodeur said of the shutout. "I think every yearyou're trying to get one. A lot of goalies have a lot ofshutouts this year. I was just trying to join the parade."

"It's not like any of us are really surprised (that Brodeurrecorded a shutout)," Devils coach Brent Sutter said. "Marty isMarty. He made key stops at key times. When your goaltendermakes key saves like that, it gives you confidence."

Brodeur came up huge in the final period, stopping Pascal Dupuison a breakaway 11 minutes into the final session.


"He's a winner," Dupuis said. "He's making big saves for histeam and they are playing better right now. Marty's a big partof that."


"Yeah, he played well, but we didn't come close to testing him,"Atlanta captain Bobby Holik said. "Not enough traffic. Wegave him a great opportunity to be good. We just didn't doenough to score on him."


It has been a rough season thus far for the Devils (10-10-2),who began the campaign with nine contests on the road beforechristening the Prudential Center on October 27.


Thus, it came as no surprise that the Devils struggled to beginthe season, posting a 3-6-1 record in their first 10 games.

But New Jersey improved as the calendar flipped to November. TheDevils were 5-4-1 in their last 10 games, winning two straighton the road entering their Friday night's contest against thered-hot Atlanta, which had won 11 of 15 after starting theseason with six losses.


Brodeur and the Devils, however, grounded the high-flyingThrashers.


"We have been playing great and it carried over to tonight,"Martin said. "We have not been giving up too many chances. Weneed to keep our intensity up and keep making smart plays."

New Jersey's defense was solid, blocking 14 shots and limitingtwo of the hottest players in the league - Ilya Kovalchuk, wholeads the league with 19 goals, and line mate Marian Hossa, whotallied multi-point games in his last six contests - to justfour shots.


"It's a solid team effort," Sutter said. "Everyone is on thesame page and doing things correctly, playing within thestructure of the game we want to play. Everyone is doing thingsthe way they are supposed to. When you have that, you're goingto have success."


Two unlikely Devils skaters staked the three-time Vezina Trophywinning Brodeur two a 2-0 advantage.


Rodney Pelley recorded his second NHL goal with a wide-anglewraparound shot from just beneath the right faceoff circle. Theshot beat Atlanta netminder Johan Hedberg down low to give theDevils a 1-0 lead at 8:59 of the second period.


After Atlanta defensemen Ken Klee and Tobias Enstrom drewhooking penalties seven seconds apart in the second period,Martin scored for the first time this season and only the 15thtime in his NHL career at 16:24 of the second period.

Brian Gionta found Martin's stick with a pass from behind thenet. The 26-year old Martin blistered a one-timer from abovethe left faceoff circle past Hedberg to give the New Jersey atwo-goal cushion.


Martin had missed New Jersey's last three games with lower bodysoreness.


Jay Pandolfo added an empty-net goal with 28 seconds to salt thegame.


Jamie Langenbrunner assisted on all three goals for New Jersey,which have won three straight games for the first time thisseason.


"(The winning streak) is great," Langenbrunner added. "You needto string wins together in this league. We have three wins in arow and four of our last five. It's very important."

"Everything is about winning," Brodeur said. "You win, you feelgood. You don't win, you don't feel good about yourself. Theatmosphere here is 100 times better than two weeks ago."

Hedberg stopped 24 shots for the Thrashers, who snapped afour-game winning streak.