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Brodeur Gets 10th Shutout

From Wire Reports

Around the NHL

Martin Brodeur wanted his extra digit - and he got it.

Brodeur became the first NHL goalie since Montreal’s Ken Dryden in 1976-77 to post 10 shutouts in a season, stopping 26 shots to lead the New Jersey Devils to a 2-0 victory over the Boston Bruins on Friday night.

“It’s always fun to get into that double digit,” Brodeur said. “It’s something you aim for when you are close. I’ve just gone out and tried to do my best, and this year I got 10.”

The shutout, Brodeur’s fourth in six starts, lowered his league-leading goals-against average to 1.88, the NHL’s lowest since Tony Esposito had a 1.77 in 1971-72.

More importantly, the win gave New Jersey (104 points) a four-point lead over idle Philadelphia in the race for first place in the Eastern Conference and home-ice advantage going into the playoffs.

Lemieux’s 50th not enough

Florida clinched home-ice in the first round of the playoffs with a 4-2 victory over Pittsburgh.

Mario Lemieux, who is retiring after the season, hit the 50-goal plateau for the sixth time in his career, on a penalty shot in the third period. But it wasn’t enough to end Pittsburgh’s road woes. The Penguins are 0-11-1 in their last 12 games away from home.

Lemieux was awarded the penalty shot after being tackled by Robert Svehla on a shorthanded breakaway. He’s 7-for-9 lifetime on penalty shots.

The Penguins played without the injured Jaromir Jagr.

The Chicago Blackhawks clinched a playoff spot for the 28th consecutive season, the longest active postseason streak in pro sports, by beating the Calgary Flames 7-3 on Alexi Zhamnov’s hat trick.

The Blackhawks will meet the defending Stanley Cup champion Avalanche in a best-of-seven series starting Wednesday at Colorado.

Zhamnov, acquired from Phoenix for fan favorite Jeremy Roenick, has had a disappointing season with only 20 goals and 61 points. But he picked a good time for his first Blackhawks hat trick and sixth of his career.

The Ottawa Senators got a bit closer to making their first playoff appearance with a tie-breaking goal from Wade Redden with 2:32 remaining for a 3-2 victory over the Red Wings in Detroit.