Mar 16, 2007 12:01 am US/Eastern
Thursday NHL Wrap-Up: Devils Hold Off 'Canes
Brodeur Huge With 38 Saves; Islanders Ripped By Sens
RALEIGH, N.C. (CBS/AP) ―
Martin Brodeur kept stopping the defending Stanley Cup champions and kept the New Jersey Devils in the hunt for the top spot in the Eastern Conference.
Brodeur stopped 38 shots, and Erik Rasmussen and Zach Parise scored third-period goals in New Jersey's 3-2 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday night.
"We kept things simple," Brodeur said. "We're fortunate that we're not fighting for our lives right now. Right now, we just have to play solid and keep our game together."
Scott Gomez had a goal and an assist, and Jamie Langenbrunner added two assists for the Devils, who have won three of four and remained two points behind Buffalo in the race for first in the East.
Brodeur made 22 saves in the third period and beat the Hurricanes for the third time this season.
"Marty was outstanding obviously," Devils coach Claude Julien said. "We had to have a lot of guys step up for us to make that happen, and Marty was definitely one of those guys."
David Tanabe and Andrew Ladd scored for the Hurricanes, who have lost two of three and are tied with the New York Islanders for seventh in the East. John Grahame, making his second straight start after No. 1 goalie Cam Ward cut his leg Sunday against the New York Rangers, made 22 saves.
"I liked the way we came out," Carolina coach Peter Laviolette said. "We had good steam, and in the end, we just couldn't beat their goaltender."
Rasmussen put New Jersey ahead to stay 40 seconds into the third, tapping the rebound of Gomez's hard shot past Grahame to make it 2-1.
"When you go into the third period tied 1-1, that next goal is so crucial," Tanabe said. "When they got that, it was tough to battle back."
Parise scored midway through the period when he took a centering pass from Travis Zajac and beat Grahame stick-side for his 28th goal.
Dunham, Islanders Fail To Bring "A" Game To OttawaThe Ottawa Senators' plan of testing seldom-used goalie Mike Dunham led to the fastest three goals in team history and another blow to the New York Islanders' drive for a playoff berth.
Chris Neil, Dean McAmmond and Jason Spezza scored goals 1:16 apart early in the third period, leading Ottawa to a 5-2 win over the Islanders on Thursday night.
Dunham allowed all five goals in his first start since Feb. 1 as Islanders top goalie Rick DiPietro sat out because of a stiff neck and overall soreness, ending his career-high streak of 18 straight starts.
"My job is to find the way to stop pucks," Dunham said. "I felt good the first two periods and then just fell apart there for the first three minutes. The puck all of a sudden just found its way into the net quickly and it got out of hand."
Dunham has played in only six games since Dec. 15, including Tuesday when he allowed five goals on 32 shots in a loss to Montreal after replacing DiPietro, who was injured in a mid-ice collision with Canadiens forward Steve Begin.
"That's part of the job as a backup, to go in stretches where you don't play," Dunham said.
New York's Miroslav Satan scored on a 5-on-3 at 14:47 of the third and assisted on Drew Fata's goal with 4.2 seconds remaining.
The Islanders, who have lost four of five (1-3-1), are tied with Carolina for seventh place in the East with 78 points, one ahead of ninth-place Toronto and two up on the New York Rangers and Montreal.
(© 2007 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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