Newark, NJ (Sports Network) - With the wins record now in his grasp, Martin Brodeur is inching closer to another fabled milestone.
The Montreal native turned aside all 35 shots he faced to notch the 101st shutout of his legendary career, as the New Jersey Devils defeated the Minnesota Wild, 4-0, at Prudential Center. Brodeur is now just two shy of the great Terry Sawchuk in that category.
Brodeur notched the 552nd win of his career on Tuesday against Chicago to pass Hall-of-Famer Patrick Roy for first on the all-time list. Brodeur was given a rare night off Wednesday when New Jersey lost at Carolina, but was his usual self two nights later.
Patrik Elias scored twice for the Devils, who have won a club-record 11 straight games on home ice.
Niklas Backstrom got the start between the pipes for Minnesota and was yanked in the second period after yielding three goals on 11 shots. Josh Harding finished with 17 saves for the Wild, who had recorded at least a point in five of their last six games coming in (2-1-3).
A misplay by a Wild defenseman led to a 1-0 lead for the Devils. New Jersey backliner Johnny Oduya flipped the puck from center ice and Marek Zidlicky corralled the dump-in behind his own net, where the tenacious forecheck of Brian Gionta forced him to throw the puck out blindly to Elias. Elias then wasted little time and snapped the puck behind a bewildered Backstrom at the 1:24 mark of the middle frame.
It was 2-0 when a sliding Gionta tapped in a feed from Zach Parise at 9:59 of the second period, and Oduya lit the lamp 63 seconds later, unleashing a drive from the point that bounced and fluttered over the left shoulder of Backstrom.
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Elias added a power-play tally in the third period.