BUFFALO — The incumbent Canadian Olympic goalie says the Sabres netminder he’ll face here tonight is the one the U.S. will pin its hopes on barely two months from now in Vancouver.
“I don’t think there’s a doubt in my mind how he’s become the top goalie for the U.S.,” Martin Brodeur said of Buffalo netminder Ryan Miller, who leads the NHL with a 1.85 goals-against average this season.
Brodeur and Pittsburgh’s Marc-Andre Fleury share the league lead with 17 victories, one more than Miller, who owns the top save percentage in the NHL, .936. Brodeur is probably the leading candidate for the Canadian starting job, with Roberto Luongo challenging.
Canada and Russia are the early-line favorites in the Olympics, but Brodeur says Miller is good enough to help the Americans contend.
“It’s a short tournament,” said Brodeur, whose Devils play at the Sabres tonight (7 p.m., Versus, WFAN 660 AM). “He’s got that demeanor, that way of playing the game. He never beats himself. He’ll be good for them.”
Reminded that Brodeur is now both a Canadian and a U.S. citizen, Brodeur made clear which team is his.
“Them,” he reiterated.
Brodeur took yesterday off from practice, having played 13 straight, starting 12, including victories Friday over Tampa and Saturday over Detroit, 4-3 in a shootout.
Brodeur gave the refs lip Saturday about the visits to his crease by Detroit’s Tomas Holmstrom. Yesterday, for some 20 minutes, the Devils defensemen huddled at the net manned by assistant coach Chris Terreri, in Brodeur’s absence, to brainstorm the ways of handling crease-crashers.
“That’s the beauty of having [Jacques Lemaire] as a coach. He sees it happen and he addresses it,” Brodeur said.
The Devils have gone 13-3-1 since losing 4-1 to the Sabres in New Jersey Oct. 28, the loss before they won eight straight.
“Speed, I think, was an issue a little bit,” Brodeur said. “But having guys back in our lineup, we’re playing a lot better. It will be a good challenge to do to them in their building what they did to us in ours.”
Colin White’s first name is John, and he said he uses his middle name to minimize family confusion. “Both my grandfathers, my father and my uncle are named John,” White said. “We kept it going with my son.” . . . The Devils stand 10-2-1 on the road, but 1-2-1 in their last four away from Newark. . . . Patrik Elias said he had to leave Newark quickly after scoring the shootout decider Saturday to attend to a personal matter at home. . . . Jamie Langenbrunner has a four-game point streak.