PITTSBURGH — Others are coming down with swine flu. The Devils are finally catching record fever.
They’ll have to wait until after they play host to the Caps tomorrow, but on Monday in Philadelphia, the Jersey Juggernaut can tie the NHL’s longest-ever perfect road start to a season.
Martin Brodeur wants that 10-0 road start record held by the 2006 Sabres, and says his teammates should want it, too.
“It’s something that’s pretty cool,” Brodeur said. “Everybody has to realize there are only so many opportunities to write history.
“We have to embrace it. We can’t be afraid of it. And we’re doing a lot of good things, so we don’t have to change anything.”
The Devils ran their perfect road start to 9-0 last night with another comeback victory, this time 4-1 over the Penguins here. It was their seventh straight triumph overall, and 10th in their last 11 games.
The line of Travis Zajac, Zach Parise and Niclas Bergfors piled up eight points, with Bergfors and Parise each scoring goals, along with Andy Greene’s power play tally. Bergfors had a goal and two assists, Zajac three assists.
“Tonight we won, but I don’t think we played as good [as Wednesday’s 3-1 victory over Anaheim],” Jacques Lemaire said. “I want them to play like they played against Anaheim every night. Tonight, to me, was not good enough.”
Not good enough still gave the Devils sole possession of the Atlantic Division lead over the Penguins, with two games in hand. They also tied the idle Capitals, who will play host to Minnesota tonight before visiting Newark tomorrow, for the conference lead, with one game in hand. They can also equal last season’s longest eight-game winning streak when they face the Caps tomorrow and stand two victories shy of their longest winning streak under Brent Sutter.
The Devils gave up the opening goal for the fourth time in five games, when Ruslan Fedotenko ended the Penguins’ goal drought at 160:41, dating to a Nov. 5 loss in L.A. that snapped Pitt’s perfect seven-game road start.
Fedotenko started the chaos with a shot from along the goal line on right wing, that rebounded off Brodeur’s stick to Sidney Crosby in the left circle. Brodeur stopped that backhand, too, but that rebound came up and off Fedotenko at the crease, and he jabbed the puck through Brodeur at 11:32 of the first.
Bergfors tied the game at 13:50 of the second, set up in the slot by Parise’s feed from the end boards, after Zajac’s hit freed the puck. Bergfors’ goal was his fifth of the season, all in 10 games. Parise stretched his point streak to three games, while Zajac posted his first point in four.
Greene put the Devils in front at 18:50 of the second with his third, a power play point shot that glanced past Marc-Andre Fleury off the skate of Penguin defenseman Ben Lovejoy.
Parise added insurance at 4:43 of the third with his ninth, set up in front by Zajac’s 2-on-1 rush deep around Lovejoy. Bergfors checked the puck away from Penguin Chris Connor to launch the rush.
Crosby hit the crossbar on a third period attempt, then fired a rebound toward an open net, only to see the puck hit the glove of a diving Brodeur.
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The Penguins were injury-plagued, too, without Evegni Malkin (shoulder), Maxime Talbot, Kris Letang, Tyler Kennedy, Sergei Gonchar and Brooks Orpik. . . . The Devils were without defensemen Paul Martin (broken arm) and Johnny Oduya (lower body), as well as defensive forwards Jay Pandolfo (shoulder), Rob Niedermayer (upper body) and Dean McAmmond (cold). . . . Brian Rolston returned to the lineup after sitting out Wednesday. He said he did not have flu, and the bruises he was letting heal were not related to last season’s upper ankle sprain.