ATLANTA (AP) -Martin Brodeur swatted away every shot he faced, then brushed aside all the talk about Terry Sawchuck.
The Devils’ goalie made 25 saves for his 97th career shutout, six behind Sawchuk’s NHL record, and Brian Rolston scored before getting hurt in New Jersey’s 1-0 victory over the Atlanta Thrashers on Thursday night.
“You don’t want to get nervous,” Brodeur said of chasing the record. “It’s so far away. When it comes down to it, there will be more emphasis on it.”
Brodeur, second on the career shutout list, picked up his first of the season and is just three away from joining Sawchuk as the only goalies in NHL history to reach the century club. The late Hall of Famer leads with 103.
“It’s nice to get one so early in the season,” Brodeur said. “You want to win games. The shutouts will come. Every year is different. I just concentrate of winning the next game.”
In other NHL games, it was Vancouver 4, Detroit 3 in overtime; Minnesota 6, Florida 2; Washington 4, Pittsburgh 3; the New York Islanders 4, Tampa Bay 3 in overtime; St. Louis 6, Dallas 1; and Colorado 5, Philadelphia 2.
king in his own rebound after Kari Lehtonen made the initial save.
Midway through the third period, Rolston slammed heavily into the boards while turning up ice after the Thrashers broke up a New Jersey rush. He had to be helped off the ice by two teammates, but it turned out to be merely a sprained ankle.
“He’s going to be fine,” coach Brent Sutter said. “It’s not as bad as we first thought. He went into the board awkward.”
With a little good fortune, Brodeur made the lead stand up. Jason Williams had a good chance in front, but the Devils goalie made the initial save and blocked a rebound as well. Ron Hainsey got off a blistering shot from the point during an Atlanta power play, but it clanked off the outside of the post.
“We gave up too many chances,” Dainius Zubrus said. “Marty played great.”
The Thrashers pulled Lehtonen in the final minute, but never had a good chance against the defensive-minded Devils, who have allowed just six goals in four games this season.
Lehtonen had a strong game in goal, making 34 saves, but it wasn’t enough to prevent the Thrashers from their second straight loss after a 1-0-1 start for new coach John Anderson.
Wild 6, Panthers 2
At Sunrise, Fla., Mikko Koivu had a goal and four assists and Antti Miettinen scored twice on the power play to help Minnesota stay unbeaten.
Koivu’s four assists tied a franchise record and gave him eight assists in three games. Miettinen added an assist and has five goals in three games, all wins for the Wild. Andrew Brunette, Kim Johnsson and Benoit Pouliot also scored for Minnesota.
Islanders 4, Lightning, 3, OT
At Tampa, Fla., Trent Hunter scored his second goal of the game 51 seconds into overtime, and the Islanders kept the Lightning and new coach Barry Melrose winless in four games.
Tampa Bay goalie Olaf Kolzig misplayed the puck behind the net, which allowed Frans Nielsen to gain control and feed Hunter, who was alone in front of the goal.
Mike Comrie and Doug Weight also scored for the Islanders. Vincent Lecavalier, Vinny Prospal and Ryan Malone had the Tampa Bay goals.
Capitals 4, Penguins 3
At Pittsburgh, Boyd Gordon scored a delayed goal in the third period to complete Washington’s four-goal comeback, and the Capitals shook off three Pittsburgh power-play goals to rally for a victory.
It was a major letdown for the Penguins, who got a goal and two assists from Evgeni Malkin in his matchup with Russian rival Alex Ovechkin, who was scoreless, but couldn’t hold a 3-0 lead with Marc-Andre Fleury in net. Fleury, who made 26 saves, had been 7-0 against the Capitals in seven starts.
Alexander Semin had a goal and an assist as Washington won its third in a row.
Canucks 4, Red Wings 3, OT
At Detroit, Alex Burrows scored 27 seconds into overtime to give Vancouver a victory over the Red Wings. Jannik Hansen, Ryan Kesler and Mason Raymond also scored for Vancouver and Roberto Luongo made 32 saves.
Tomas Holmstrom, Brian Rafalski and Dan Cleary had Detroit’s goals and Chris Osgood stopped 25 shots.
Blues 6, Stars 1
At St. Louis, Keith Tkachuk and Brad Boyes each scored for the fourth straight game, and the Blues had their best offensive output since January in beating Dallas.
Yan Stastny, Jay McKee, Steve Wagner and Eric Brewer also scored for the Blues, who got three goals by defenseman. Boyes also had an assist and Paul Kariya added a pair of assists for the Blues, who have won three of their first four games.
Manny Legace stopped 29 shots to improve to 3-0 on the season.
Avalanche 5, Flyers 2
At Denver, Andrew Raycroft made 16 saves in his first start for Colorado, the Avalanche’s first win of the season.
Raycroft is the backup to Peter Budaj, who accepted much of the blame for the Avs’ 0-3 start. Captain Joe Sakic had three assists for Colorado.
on a power play, to take a 2-0 lead.
Simon Gagne scored on a penalty shot for Philadelphia.
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