The Devils’ goaltending insurance policy paid off again last night.
Johan Hedberg proved the perfect backup, literally. After relieving an injured Martin Brodeur after the first period, he stopped everything the Kings fired at him — in regulation, overtime and in the tie-breaker — allowing shootout goals by Ilya Kovalchuk and Zach Parise to stand up for the Devils’ 2-1 victory in Newark last night.
“To come off the bench cold and pitch a game like that . . .” Devils coach Pete DeBoer marveled after his record improved to 2-1 with a second straight victory, both by Hedberg.
Hedberg had a winning record last season when Brodeur didn’t, and he’ll almost certainly try for his and the team’s third straight victory when the Devils visit Nashville tomorrow.
Brodeur injured his right shoulder at 11:30 of the first, diving across the crease to deny Alec Martinez a near-certain goal, after the Kings had taken the lead and were threatening to blow the Devils away.
Brodeur received arm manipulation at the bench and finished the first period before yielding to Hedberg.
“It should be fine, just a matter of a couple days until the swelling goes down,” Brodeur said. “I was fully extended and just fell on it.”
Brodeur, who may be optimistic about the speed of his recovery, remained down momentarily, then went to the bench while Hedberg readied himself.
“It feels like an adrenaline kick. You get a little nervous,” Hedberg said. “I was preparing from that moment. He looked like he was in some discomfort.”
Brodeur was still in the net when Patrik Elias tied the game on a second rebound. That goal atoned for Elias’ line giving up the opening goal to Simon Gagne when they went off on a change, allowing an instant 3-on-2 that Devils’ defense had no reason to expect.
Brodeur watched from the bench as the Devils took over play in front of Hedberg, but failed to capitalize. David Clarkson squandered a breakaway in the second, and Petr Sykora missed a golden backhand early in the third while double-shifted Kovalchuk fired into Jonathan Quick on a semibreakaway.
“It felt like it could be a tight game, especially early in the third,” Hedberg said. “If I could just be solid, we’d have a good chance to win.”
Solid proved to be impenetrable. Hedberg managed to keep Williams from scoring with 6:13 left in regulation, his struggling save steering the puck just wide of the left post. In overtime, he made his finest saves in a right wing-left wing combo from Justin Williams and Drew Doughty. He made it look easy in the shootout, halting Gagne and Anze Kopitar to complete his masterpiece.
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Brodeur said he hopes to travel with the team to Nashville today for tomorrow’s game. After that, they are off until San Jose comes to Newark next Friday and they visit Pittsburgh next Saturday. . . . Eric Boulton and Adam Henrique sat out last night after playing first two games, and Cam Janssen and Rod Pelley made their season debuts.