Brodeur earns 21st playoff shutout in Devils victory
Patrik Elias set up Jamie Langenbrunner 68 seconds after the opening faceoff and then scored his third goal of the series 8 minutes later in the Devils’ 3-0 victory over surprise starter Jaromir Jagr and the New York Rangers on Wednesday night at New York.
Martin Brodeur stopped 25 shots for his 21st career postseason shutout, two off the NHL mark held by Patrick Roy, as the Devils won their 14th straight game.
New Jersey took advantage of New York’s deficient special teams in winning the opening two games of the series, and then built a commanding 3-0 lead in the best-of-7 matchup by scoring three goals at even strength.
Flyers 4, Sabres 2: At Philadelphia, Peter Forsberg scored two goals and Robert Esche made 26 saves to give the Flyers a win over Buffalo.
The Sabres still lead the best-of-7 series 2-1 with Game 4 on Friday night, also in Philadelphia.
Hurricanes 2, Canadiens 1 (OT): At Montreal, Eric Staal scored a power-play goal 3:38 into overtime to help Carolina avoid falling into a 0-3 hole in the first-round playoff series.
Game 4 is Friday night in Montreal. The Hurricanes have never come back to win a playoff series after losing the first two games.
Avalanche 4, Stars 3 (OT): At Denver, Alex Tanguay scored 1:09 into overtime to give Colorado a victory over Dallas and a 3-0 lead in the best-of-7 series.
The teams also played an overtime game Monday night in Dallas, when Joe Sakic’s tip-in won it for Colorado, which will try for the sweep at home Friday night.
Koivu suffers eye injury
Montreal captain Saku Koivu suffered an unspecified eye injury during the second period of the Canadiens’ 2-1 overtime loss to Carolina.
Following the game, Canadiens GM-coach Bob Gainey said Koivu had suffered an eye injury, including a cut around his left eye, and that he will be re-examined today – if not sooner – by team opthalmologist Dr. John Little.
Yzerman may miss game
As if a double-overtime loss to the Calgary Flames wasn’t enough for Detroit to worry about, the Red Wings are facing the possibility of playing Game 4 without their captain due to an injury.
Steve Yzerman only played two shifts in the first overtime of the 4-3 loss to Edmonton on Tuesday night because of back trouble.
His status is questionable heading into tonight’s game.