Schwei: Brodeur And The Devils' Backups

By John Schweibacher
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Martin Brodeur picked up his first two road wins of the season this past week, with victories against Buffalo and Tampa Bay.

Brodeur has started 168 of the Devils' last 264 games since the beginning of the 2008-09 season. New Jersey's backup goaltenders have fared slightly better than Brodeur over this span:

· 2011-12
Brodeur 4-3-0 2.88
Hedberg 6-4-1 2.45

· 2010-11
Brodeur 23-16-3 2.45
Hedberg 15-12-2 2.38
McKenna 0-1-0 3.05

· 2009-10
Brodeur 45-25-6 2.24
Danis 3-2-1 2.06

· 2008-09
Brodeur 19-19-3 2.41
Clemmensen 25-13-1 2.39
Weekes 7-5-0 2.42

Totals: Brodeur 91-63-12 (.584) 2.50
Backups: 56-37-5 (.597) 2.46

Brodeur earned an assist on Ilya Kovalchuk's power-play goal in Buffalo last Wednesday. It was the 37th assist of his career, the most among active goalies and 6th most all-time. Brodeur now has eight assists on the power play in his career and four have come in the last two years:

· 11/15/11 NJD 5@ BUF 3 Ilya Kovalchuk PP (Assists: Patrik Elias, Martin Brodeur)

· 12/10/10 OTT 3@ NJD 2 Patrik Elias PP (Ilya Kovalchuk, Martin Brodeur)

· 12/18/09 OTT 2@ NJD 4 Jamie Langenbrunner PP (Andy Greene, Martin Brodeur)

· 12/12/09 NJD 4@ PHI 1 Niclas Bergfors PP (Brian Rolston, Martin Brodeur)

· 3/25/02 FLA 1 @ NJD 3 Patrik Elias PP (Joe Nieuwendyk, Martin Brodeur)

· 11/7/01 ATL 2 @ NJD 3 Bobby Holik PP (Brian Rafalski, Martin Brodeur)

· 11/26/98 NJD 2@ PHX 3 Petr Sykora PP (Lyle Odelein, Martin Brodeur)

· 4/5/98 PHX 2 @ NJD 3 Patrik Elias PP (Petr Sykora, Martin Brodeur)

Mark Fayne leads all Devils defensemen with three goals scored, one shy of matching his total in 57 games played last year during his rookie season.

No Devils defensemen has reached double-figures in goal scoring since Scott Niedermayer scored 14 back in 2003-04.

Here are the Devils' leading goal-scoring defensemen in each season since the lockout:

· 2010-11 Henrik Tallinder 5
· 2009-10 Andy Greene 6
· 2008-09 Johnny Oduya 7
· 2007-08 Johnny Oduya 6
· 2006-07 Brian Rafalski 8
· 2005-06 Brian Rafalski 6

Fayne still has a ways to go to climb this list; the Devils all-time single-season leaders for goals by a defenseman:

· Scott Stevens 18 1993-94
· Scott Stevens 17 1991-92
· Dave Pichette 17 1984-85
· Tom Kurvers 16 1988-89
· Bruce Driver 15 1987-88
· Jim Korn 15 1988-89
· Scott Niedermayer 14 1997-98
· Bruce Driver 14 1992-93
· Scott Niedermayer 14 2003-04

The Devils finish their road swing Monday night against the Florida Panthers. It will be the first time Devils head coach Pete DeBoer faces his former club. New Jersey went 7-3-2 against the Panthers in DeBoer's three seasons behind the bench, including a 2-0-2 mark last year.

The Devils' two overtime losses against DeBoer's Panthers were two of only five games New Jersey failed to win during their torrid 23-3-2 stretch under Jacques Lemaire last season.

On Wednesday, the Devils return home to face the Columbus Blue Jackets.

New Jersey defeated Columbus, 3-0, in their lone meeting last season, improving their all-time mark against the Blue Jackets to 7-2-2. The Devils are 3-0-1 in their four home-ice contests vs. Columbus since the Blue Jackets entered the NHL in 2000-01.

The Devils will face former teammate Jay Pandolfo when they take on the Islanders in a home-and-home match-up this weekend.

Pandolfo returned to the NHL this season after having his contract bought out by New Jersey following the 2009-10 season and spending 12 games in the AHL with Springfield last year.

Prior to his Isles' debut this season, Pandolfo had appeared in the second most games in Devils history without having appeared in a game with any other NHL club.

Here is the updated list of players who have played the most games with New Jersey and no other franchise:

· Ken Daneyko 1,283
· Martin Brodeur 1,140
· Patrik Elias 979
· Sergei Brylin 765
· Mike Kitchen 474*
· Zach Parise 438
· Travis Zajac 408
· David Clarkson 316
· Andy Greene 307
· Rod Pelley 210

*-Total includes games with Colorado Rockies

The Devils went 4-2-0 in the six meetings with the Islanders last season, winning four straight after dropping the first two match-ups with their division rivals.

Islanders head coach Jack Capuano comes into the week having now been behind the Isles' bench for 82 games, the equivalent of a single season.

The Islanders have gone 31-38-13 since Capuano took over a year ago.

Schwei's Plus/Minus:

Plus: David Clarkson. RW has scored goals in each of the Devils' last three road games, four if you include his game-winning shootout tally in Washington.

Minus: 3rd Period D. New Jersey has allowed seven third period goals in its last three games, 23 for the season while giving up just 13 in each of the first two periods so far in 2011-12.