MONTREAL — The perfect game doused the doubts, for now, that Martin Brodeur was playing like a 38-year-old goalie.
The Devils have two victories this season, both on Brodeur shutouts.
Last night, in a 3-0 triumph over the Canadiens, the team and its best-ever goalie looked like Devils teams of old. They were dumping the puck in, digging it out and putting it away, while their franchise player frustrated their foe.
“We didn’t try to score goals from the neutral zone by making plays. We made smart decisions,” Jamie Langenbrunner said. “We know we have the talent and guys who know how to play. It’s doing it for a full game.”
“With the firepower we have, we still have to play solid hockey,” John MacLean said after his NHL coaching record improved to 2-4-1. “We hope we can build from this.”
But MacLean would not proclaim an end to the Devils’ troubles.
“It’s one game. There’s no time to rest on our laurels,” MacLean said.
While they wait for this massive offense to materialize, they may not need Brodeur to be perfect just to win, but it’s been that way thus far. He seemed to make the point that he’s not over the hill after his 112th career shutout, and ninth against Montreal.
“Every time I lose a game, it’s the end of me,” Brodeur said. “I don’t hear it, but my friends and family do.”
The doubts were raised after the Devils opened 1-4-1, their worst start since 1983. Last night’s victory advanced them 12 seasons, matching their opening mark from 1995, the season they won their first Stanley Cup.
Brodeur raised his record to 39-16-5 lifetime in his 60th game against his hometown Canadiens.
Zach Parise opened the scoring by snapping his five- game goal drought at 4:20 of the first, nabbing the puck behind the net from Travis Zajac and drawing it around the left post to slip past the startled Carey Price.
The teams danced shotless through the final nine minutes of the first, but the Devils doubled their lead at 14:54 of the second, on Jason Arnott’s team-best third of the year, a right circle changeup between Price’s legs. It was also Arnott’s 100th career goal with the Devils, now in his second stint.
Rookie Matt Taormina put the game away at 3:38 of the third with his second career goal, a short side slap from the right point, after Arnott won an offensive draw.
It was the second time the Devils scored three goals this season, the other being a 4-3 OT loss to Dallas in the season opener.
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The Devils will support Hockey Fights Cancer with a mystery puck sale during tomorrow night’s visit by the Sabres. Fans can purchase autographed pucks, with the signer unknown until bought. . . . Former Devil Brian Gionta, the American captain of the Canadiens, says the singular honor hasn’t made much impact on him. “I don’t know if it changed my life. I do the same things I always did,” Gionta said. “It’s an honor to be captain, but I don’t think it validates my career.” Gionta made a hit here in the Habs’ home opener by introducing the players in French. “I tried to do what I could,” he said. . . . Olivier Magnan-Grenier made his NHL debut in his native province, while Matt Corrente, Matt Taormina and Josef Jacobson played in Montreal for the first time.