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Brodeur earned the 125th shutout of his spectacular career, the
most in NHL history, Monday night for the St. Louis Blues, a 3-0
victory over the Colorado Avalanche that snapped the team's
four-game winless streak. He earned the 691st win of his career,
also the most in league history.
What may have made this game extra special was the fact there is a
chance it might have been the final one of Brodeur's career. He was
signed as a free agent after Brian Elliott suffered a knee injury
Nov. 25 and Elliott is now healthy and ready to return.
For the time being, the Blues have said they intend to keep three
goalies, Elliott, Brodeur and Jake Allen, but it remains to be seen
how long that arrangement lasts and how the playing time is divided.
That really isn't something Brodeur is thinking about right now.
"I'm enjoying every moment of it and whenever the decision will be
made hopefully I'll be the first to know and I'll be happy or
disappointed one way or the other," said Brodeur, who has won three
of the six games he has played for the Blues. "It's been a great
ride.
"If that's my last game that's not a bad one to leave on, but I
don't feel it's going to be. I'm happy to be here and I think they
are pretty happy to have me around too."
Brodeur, whose first shutout came for the New Jersey Devils on Oct.
20, 1993, a 4-0 win over Anaheim in which he had to make 17 saves,
had to stop only 16 shots against the Avalanche for this shutout.
Some of his most important saves came early in the first period,
keeping the game scoreless, before the Blues got goals from right
winger Dmitij Jaskin and defenseman Chris Butler in the second
period. Right winger Vladimir Tarasenko got the other goal, his 22nd
of the year, in the third period.
"Three real good ones early," coach Ken Hitchcock said of Brodeur's
saves. "We gave them a couple from the red tee's early and he made
the big saves."
The Blues limited Colorado to only three shots on goal in the second
period and five in the third.
"This is the first one with the Blues, so it definitely means a lot
to me," Brodeur said of the shutout. "When teams play the way we
played today, you play so well you deserve to be rewarded
defensively and it's our job of goaltenders not to give up anything.
It wasn't the hardest game to play but you still have to make the
saves out there."
Brodeur began to hear the soldout crowd chanting "Marty, Marty,"
midway through the third period and it continued until well after
the final horn.
"It's nice. They kind of chanted a little early for me," he said.
"When you're working on a shutout, you're not trying to think about
things like that, but it's nice to be appreciated by the people that
you play in front of most nights. These are all fun things for me to
be a part of."
It wasn't a fun night for the Avalanche, who saw the momentum they
were starting to build before Christmas halted by their second
consecutive loss.
The reason was Brodeur and his early saves.
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"He didn't make any mistakes," said Avalanche right winger Jarome
Iginla. "He played well, We had some good chances, especially in the
first period, and he made some good saves. If we could have gotten
one by (him) in the first period, it might have been a different
game, but he made some big stops and it was a big part of the game."
Colorado coach Patrick Roy, who knows a thing or two about shutouts,
thought his team didn't present much of a challenge for Brodeur.
"A shutout is a shutout and you have to make some saves but I
thought maybe it was one of his easiest ones," Roy said.
It also was a big night for Butler, a St. Louis native who signed
with the Blues as a free agent over the summer and scored his first
goal for his hometown team.
Doing so on a special night for Brodeur made it even more
meaningful, Butler said.
"He was awesome tonight," Butler said. "I think he's gotten more
comfortable here and he's been a tremendous teammate. For a guy with
his credentials and his resume coming in here, he jelled right away.
He fit in with the guys and tonight was an awesome performance by
him."
The win was costly for the Blues, who lost left winger Chris Porter
for at least six weeks with an injury to his lower left leg suffered
when he got tangled up with Colorado defenseman Nick Holden along
the boards in the second period.
NOTES: G Brian Elliott was medically cleared to play for the Blues,
who have said they also intend to keep G Martin Brodeur and G Jake
Allen until they are convinced Elliott will not have any setbacks
from the knee injury that has sidelined him since Nov. 25. ... The
Blues should find out Tuesday whether LW Magnus Paarjarvi clears
waivers and can be sent to the AHL. He played in 10 of the team's 37
games. ... The Blues sent D Petteri Lindbohm to their Chicago AHL
affiliate on Monday. ... The Avalanche reassigned G Calvin Pickard
and RW Dennis Everberg to Lake Erie of the AHL. ... The Blues begin
a four-game trip Tuesday night in Nashville against the Predators.
The Avalanche play the first of three consecutive home games
Wednesday night against the Philadelphia Flyers.
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