Hawks Fall in Shoot Out

It was 20 years ago yesterday, that a 19 year old Martin Brodeur played in his first NHL game. Since then (pre game stats) he has notched 651 victories while playing in 1,186 games. Add 118 (wow!) shut outs, all 3 of these NHL records, and you have a solid, Hall of Fame, career. He was the difference in this game, stopping some where around 38 shots, as the Hawks lost in a shoot out, in New Jersey, 2 - 1. Brodeur (26-21-4) went up against Crawford (27-17-5) at the Prudential center on Tuesday night. Crawford played well for the Hawks, Brodeur was just better.

The game marked the return of Steve Montador, out since Feb. 7 (concussion). The usual D man was played on the wing, as the Hawks dressed 7 defense men for the game. (Hjalmarsson, Seabrook, Leddy, Olsen, Oduya, & O’Donnell)  The rest of the lines were, as have been, lately. Hutton was the back up goalie (second time in as many weeks).  Emery was out (upper body?)

In the first period, it was all Devils. I mean really all. The Hawks could barely get the puck across center ice for the first 8 minutes and had NO scring chances at all. !0 minutes in, Mayers tested Brodeur and it was all Brodeur from then on. The Hawks had a failed Power Play—New Jersey #1 in the PK at almost 90%. The Devils also lead the NHL in short handed goals, proving that an aggressive Penalty Kill is the way to go. The Hawks went on the PK next and Sykora scored on a nice redirect in front. The period ended with the score 1 - 0 Devils. The Hawks surprisingly out shot them 13 - 11.

Source: http://www.kuklaskorner.com/index.php/talk_hawks/comments/hawks_fall_in_shoot_out/

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