One more to No. 1: Brodeur ties Roy's wins record

Montreal, QC (Sports Network) - Appropriately enough, Martin Brodeur posted win No. 551 of his illustrious career in Montreal on Saturday.

In his hometown, Brodeur notched the victory with a 22-save performance to help his New Jersey Devils post a 3-1 win over the Montreal Canadiens and tie Patrick Roy, who tallied most of his wins with the Habs and was in attendance for the game, for first place all-time.

"I feel great, I'm definitely happy it's over with," said Brodeur. "Coming into Montreal it was hectic with family and press conferences and all."

As the horn sounded, his teammates flooded the ice to congratulate him and the fans at the Bell Centre gave him a standing ovation.

"Hockey is all about winning," said Brodeur. "You jump onto the ice as a group and the record says a lot about the guys I've played with and the organization I've been a part of."

It's been a difficult season for the 36-year-old Brodeur as he missed the bulk of the campaign recovering from elbow surgery performed in early November.

Since coming back on February 26, the four-time Vezina Trophy winner has been his usual impenetrable self, posting a record of 7-1-0 with two shutouts.

"He has a better approach than I did," said Roy. "He wants to play many more years, especially after his injury earlier this year."

In addition to the wins record, Brodeur is sitting on 100 shutouts and is just three away from tying Terry Sawchuk in that category.

"It was important for me to be here to express the discipline and sacrifice of Brodeur," said Roy. "I was very happy to see this for Marty, tying my record and now he'll go on to tie and pass Terry Sawchuk's all-time shutouts record. Every record is special to me and I'm sure Marty will agree. He has a winning record, which is also a team record. It's an extraordinary record."

Another mark of Roy's that Brodeur is hoping to tie this year is a fourth Stanley Cup. Roy won twice with Montreal (1986, 1993) and twice with Colorado (1996, 2001) while Brodeur has captured all three of his with New Jersey in 1995, 2000 and 2003.

"I was touched by the reaction of the crowd at the end of the game," said Brodeur. "It's pretty rare to get the fans reaction here in my home city. Roy took a Stanley Cup away from me, but it showed a lot of class for him to be here. You can't write a script like this in Montreal. They know hockey, they know what I achieved and they acknowledged that."

The Devils have been playing strong as of late and sit in first place in the Atlantic Division and second overall in the Eastern Conference. Brodeur will have his first shot at the wins record on Tuesday when the Devils host the Chicago Blackhawks.

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