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BOX SCORE
MONTREAL (AP) – The New Jersey Devils are ready for a bit of
downtime before embarking upon the defense of their Stanley Cup
title.
Martin Brodeur got his ninth shutout of the season as New Jersey
clinched first place in the Eastern Conference with a 2-0 victory
Saturday night over the Montreal Canadiens.
|  | | Devils goalie Martin Brodeur netted his ninth shutout of the season to raise his record to 42-17-11. |
"The guys have had to work extremely hard," Devils coach Larry
Robinson said. "It's not been so difficult maybe physically, but
mentally it's been a tough stretch, so it's kind of nice to have
these next couple of days of preparation in order to get ready for
the real season."
Brodeur stopped 21 shots for his 42nd win as the Atlantic
Division champions finished 48-19-12-3 for 111 points.
"Now it's over, so we've got to start from scratch," Brodeur
said. "Everybody's on the same page and we're going to enjoy our
four days before we have to start again."
New Jersey, which got goals from Scott Niedermayer and Sergei
Brylin, will face either Toronto or Carolina in the opening round
of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
The Devils won their second Stanley Cup last season under
Robinson, who assumed the coaching duties with eight games left in
the regular season.
"It's hard to win it, and it's doubly hard to repeat it,"
Robinson said.
Niedermayer scored his sixth goal 4:46 into the game to complete
a fine passing play by Randy McKay. Niedermayer also drew an assist
when Brylin added his 23rd goal with 8:19 gone in the second.
"They came out pretty hard early on," Niedermayer said. "We
just managed to play the way we wanted to and probably discouraged
them a little bit."
The Canadiens, winners of 24 Stanley Cups, finished out of the
playoffs for the third straight season for just the second time
since joining the NHL as a charter member in 1917.
"It's always an empty feeling, even though you know five or 10
games before that you're going to be out," Montreal captain Saku
Koivu said. "You still have those games in front of you and you
have the days to practice. Now we don't have anything."
McKay set up Niedermayer for the game's opening goal with a
cross-ice pass in the Canadiens' zone. The Devils' defenseman was
wide open as he skated in from the blue line and fired a shot past
goalie Jose Theodore.
"That was a great pass," Niedermayer said. "I had plenty of
time to do what I wanted. It was a nice play."
Theodore, who had 31 saves, made a number of quality stops in
the first as New Jersey held a 14-5 margin in shots in the opening
period.
"We knew they were fighting for first place and they were going
to come out strong," Theodore said. "I put a lot of pressure on
myself for tonight's game to keep the score close."
He couldn't deny the Devils a two-goal lead in the second,
however. Scott Gomez got his 49th assist while setting up Brylin's
goal at 8:19.
Game notes
New Jersey tied the NHL record for consecutive road wins
with 10. Buffalo set the record in 1983-84 and St. Louis matched it
last season. ... Brodeur recorded his 51st career shutout. ...
Devils defenseman Sean O'Donnell fought with Montreal's Francis
Bouillon midway through the third period. ... The Canadiens
finished with a 28-40-8-6 record for 70 points. ... Montreal missed
the playoffs from 1920-22.
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ALSO SEE
NHL Scoreboard
New Jersey Clubhouse
Montreal Clubhouse
RECAPS
Detroit 4
Colorado 3
Florida 3
NY Rangers 0
Philadelphia 4
Pittsburgh 3
Dallas 5
San Jose 4
Boston 4
NY Islanders 2
New Jersey 2
Montreal 0
Ottawa 5
Toronto 3
St. Louis 1
Nashville 0
Los Angeles 3
Calgary 2
Edmonton 4
Vancouver 2
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Jose Theodore makes the save, but the Devils' Sergei Brylin knocks in the rebound.
avi: 583 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
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