PITTSBURGH — Martin Brodeur’s streak of 18 consecutive NHL season openers for the Devils ended, but it was the Penguins’ goalie making the headlines Thursday night.
Pittsburgh’s Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 28 shots for his 250th NHL victory and franchise-record 24th shutout in the Penguins’ 3-0 season-opening win over the Devils.
“We believe in [Fleury],” star forward Sidney Crosby said. “We probably made him work harder than he needed to at the end, but there were some beauties.”
Crosby and newcomer Chuck Kobasew scored four minutes apart in the first period off Cory Schneider, who made 18 saves for the Devils in Brodeur’s stead, and Craig Adams scored a rare goal in the third.
“It’s tough to get down against a team like that and claw back,” Schneider said. “We had some chances, but Fleury made some big saves.”
The Penguins — the NHL’s highest scoring team each of the last two seasons — took just 21 shots, including nine over the final two periods.
“I love the way our team played defense,” Pittsburgh coach Dan Bylsma said. “The penalty kill was big the two times it had to be and … Marc made some big saves late.”
Perhaps none more impressive than a behind-the-back stop on the Devils’ Travis Zajac with less than eight minutes to play. Zajac fired a shot from the left circle that clanged off the post and crawled up Fleury’s back. He managed to hit his glove on it to preserve a three-goal lead.
“I tried to reach as quickly as possible,” Fleury said. “I learned it from watching the [Pittsburgh] Pirates, I guess.”
Kobasew wasted little time making an impact, scoring 9:26 into the season when he jammed in a rebound of Brandon Sutter’s shot.
Crosby doubled the lead a few minutes later when he and Dupuis created a two-on-one. When a Devils defenseman slid over to cover Dupuis, Crosby wristed a shot past Schneider’s glove.
“It’s a tough play when a guy is moving laterally like that, especially a guy like him,” Schneider said. “You try to take away as much as you can. It was just over the glove.”
Despite controlling play at times over the final two periods, the Devils couldn’t solve a goaltender — and a team — determined to prove it can play defense.
“It was one of those nights, the puck didn’t go in,” Devils coach Peter DeBoer said. “We’ve got to find a way to put some in the back of the net.”