Associated Press
NEWARK, N.J. ó Shades of Curt Schilling.
Martin Brodeur overcame a bloody ankle and put the New Jersey Devils on the verge of eliminating the Carolina Hurricanes.
Brodeur overcame a first-period skate cut and tied Patrick Roy’s NHL record for playoff shutouts at 23, making 44 saves in New Jersey’s 1-0 victory over the Hurricanes on Thursday night.
Brodeur was fortunate to escape a much more serious injury after colliding with Chad LaRose about 20 feet in front of the net going for a loose puck. LaRose’s skate blade hit the back of Brodeur’s ankle and caused a 4-inch cut.
Brodeur stayed in the game.
“It cut right through my sock,” Brodeur said. “It was more of a bruise. It’s not like it sliced. It just hit me. At first I wasn’t sure because I could see the blood. When you get cut by a skate, you don’t know what’s going on. I’m not that tough. I probably wouldn’t have continued if I had to take stitches.”
New Jersey can eliminate the Hurricanes on Sunday in Raleigh. If a seventh game is necessary, it would be in Newark on Tuesday night.
Cam Ward was almost as good as Brodeur, stopping 41 shots. David Clarkson provided the only score with a rare power-play goal in the second period.
“There was a lot of opportunities both ways ó shot for shot,” Ward said. “Marty made the saves, now we’ve just got to find a way. We are down 3-2 here, our backs are against the wall and there is a must win on Sunday. We’ve got to be excited to come to the rink to play on Sunday. We can’t be scared.”
Game 4 hero Jussi Jokinen came closest to scoring against Brodeur on Thursday. His deflection in the second period hit off the goal post, bounced off Brodeur’s rear end and was on the goal line when Brodeur got a glove on the puck.
LaRose had three outstanding chances, including two in the final period. He was stopped on a 1-on-1 after skating through the defense with 8:35 left and again in the slot with 4:21 to go. Brodeur made his last save in the final minute, stopping Ray Whitney on a slap shot.
“Playing with a great team, shutouts will happen when you play so many games,” Brodeur said. “It’s a lot more dramatic in the playoffs; there are second efforts everywhere. There are a lot of flukey goals. It makes it difficult to get shutouts.”
Clarkson scored at 11:22 of the second period with Patrick Eaves serving a tripping penalty. Defenseman Andy Greene, who was in the lineup because Bryce Salvador suffered a knee injury Tuesday, took a shot from the right point that Clarkson deflected past Ward.
The Devils were 1-for19 on the power play in the series when Clarkson converted.
Ward kept Carolina in the game midway in the third period with a snapping glove save on a blast by Zach Parise.
“If you took all the video of all the chances for both teams and stopped it just short of the two guys standing in the pipes,” Carolina coach Paul Maurice said, “you’d think that this would’ve been 7-6.”
Red Wings 6, Blue Jackets 5
COLUMBUS, Ohio ó Johan Franzen scored on a power play with 46.6 seconds left to give Detroit a first-round sweep.
The call that led to the man advantage was hotly disputed by the Blue Jackets, who were assessed a bench minor for having too many men on the ice.
Flyers 3, Penguins 0
PITTSBURGH ó Arron Asham and Claude Giroux, role players on a team filled with scorers, got the first two goals as the Flyers avoided elimination and forced a Game 6.