NEWARK (Nov. 2) - More often than not, the all-time leader in National Hockey League goaltending victories appeared as a shell of himself during Wednesday night's game at the Prudential Center.
Though Martin Brodeur of the New Jersey Devils received precious little defensive support - and was victimized by one deflection - he seemed generally slow and awkward throughout a 5-3 loss to the Maple Leafs, which improved Toronto's record atop the Northeast Division to 8-3-1 after 12 games. Returning from a six-game absence with a shoulder injury, Brodeur was hardly in career form; he practically froze in his crease on the Leafs second goal: a nifty slap-pass from defenseman Jake Gardiner that found Mikhail Grabovski alone to the left of the New Jersey net. Brodeur's rebound control - forever a staple of his success - eluded him all night long and enabled Joffrey Lupul to record his third career hat-trick; goals scored in succession during a 6:42 span of the wide-open second period.
Sitting atop the all-time list of regular-season wins (625) and shut-outs (116), Brodeur finally appeared his age at various times last season, though he and the Devils went on a second-half tear (21-2-2 between Jan. 17 and Mar. 15) that looked as if it might impossibly rescue a playoff berth in the Eastern Conference. Alas, the club could not recover from its opening-half malaise and New Jersey missed out on the post-season for the first time since 1995-96.
Under the category of "nothing lasts forever", the hope among all fans of the sport is that Brodeur - who deserves to be fast-tracked into the Hall of Fame - doesn't regress, at 39, to the point where he's hanging on for dear life. Were that to happen, he wouldn't be the first sports legend to lose a stare-down with Father Time; neither, I suppose, should we completely rule out a sudden return to form.
Whatever the case, the wish here is that Brodeur winds up his marvelous career in a dignified manner... not one that casts even a faint shadow over his accomplishments.
Now, as always, please enjoy my photo-review of Wednesday night's game here in Newark:
Under the category of "nothing lasts forever", the hope among all fans of the sport is that Brodeur - who deserves to be fast-tracked into the Hall of Fame - doesn't regress, at 39, to the point where he's hanging on for dear life. Were that to happen, he wouldn't be the first sports legend to lose a stare-down with Father Time; neither, I suppose, should we completely rule out a sudden return to form.
Whatever the case, the wish here is that Brodeur winds up his marvelous career in a dignified manner... not one that casts even a faint shadow over his accomplishments.
Now, as always, please enjoy my photo-review of Wednesday night's game here in Newark:
THE ENORMOUS ELECTRONIC BILLBOARD ON THE FACADE OF THE PRUDENTIAL CENTER (ABOVE) SHOWS AN ADVERTISEMENT PRIOR TO THE LEAFS-DEVILS GAME.
THE PRESS BOX IN THE DEVILS' HOME ARENA (ABOVE) OFFERS A TERRIFIC VIEW OF THE ACTION, THOUGH ANY REPORTER WITH A FEAR OF HEIGHTS WOULD HAVE TO LOOK FOR ANOTHER JOB.
LEAFS AND DEVILS STAND AT THEIR RESPECTIVE BLUE LINES (ABOVE) AMID A LIGHT-SHOW DURING THE NATIONAL ANTHEMS.
THIRTY-NINE-YEAR-OLD MARTIN BRODEUR (ABOVE) RETURNED TO THE DEVILS NET AFTER A SIX-GAME ABSENCE WITH A SHOULDER INJURY AND LOOKED 49 FOR MUCH OF THE NIGHT, THOUGH HE WASN'T ACCORDED A SHRED OF DEFENSIVE HELP.
BRODEUR EYES THE GATORADE BOTTLE ATOP HIS NET WHILE THE LEAFS CELEBRATE JOEY CRABB'S GOAL THAT OPENED THE SCORING AT 8:37 OF THE FIRST PERIOD.
NEW JERSEY PLAYERS CONGRATULATE VETERAN DAINIUS ZUBRUS (NO. 8 ABOVE) ON HIS TYING GOAL, JUST 3:39 AFTER CRABB'S MARKER.
FIVE GOALS WERE SCORED IN THE SECOND PERIOD - THE FIRST (ABOVE) BY PATRICK ELIAS (OUT OF PICTURE) ON A ONE-TIMER FROM THE RIGHT-WING FACE-OFF CIRCLE THAT DEFLECTED PAST JONAS GUSTAVSSON OFF DION PHANEUF'S STICK. JOFFREY LUPUL WOULD SCORE ALL THREE OF TORONTO'S GOALS IN THE MIDDLE FRAME.
IT WASN'T AN OVERLY ROUGH AFFAIR BUT IT DID HAVE ITS MOMENTS, INCLUDING A PAIR OF SCRAPS: HELMET-LESS MIKE BROWN TAKING ON NEW JERSEY'S BRAD MILLS (ABOVE) AND LUKE SCHENN SQUARING OFF WITH PESKY TORONTO NATIVE DAVID CLARKSON (BELOW). CLARKSON HAD EARLIER JABBED A LOOSE PUCK PAST SCHENN IN THE NEUTRAL ZONE EN ROUTE TO A BREAKAWAY GOAL.
BRODEUR MOVED TO A SAFE DISTANCE (ABOVE) IN THE SECOND PERIOD AS BROWN TRIED TO KEEP DEVILS' CAM JANSSEN (25) AT ARM'S LENGTH.
LATER ON, CLARKSON JOSTLED WITH THE LEAFS' CLARKE MacARTHUR (ABOVE) DURING A FACE-OFF AT CENTER ICE.
PRESS ROW AT THE PRUDENTIAL CENTER (ABOVE) FINDS DAVE FESCHUK OF THE TORONTO STAR (GLASSES) AND TERRY KOSHAN OF THE TORONTO SUN IMMERSED IN THEIR GAME STORIES.
TRAILING BY TWO GOALS, THE DEVILS SURROUND COACH PETER DeBOER (ABOVE) DURING A LATE TIME OUT, PLOTTING STRATEGY FOR A SIXTH ATTACKER WITH BRODEUR HEADED TO THE BENCH.
THE LEAFS HUNG ON TO THEIR TWO-GOAL VICTORY MARGIN AND GAVE PROPS TO JONAS GUSTAVSSON (ABOVE) AFTER THE FINAL BUZZER.
JOFFREY LUPUL TALKED ABOUT HIS THIRD CAREER HAT-TRICK AFTER THE GAME AMID THE USUAL TORONTO MEDIA SWARM.
LIGHTS WERE STILL ON IN THE PRUDENTIAL CENTER (ABOVE) AS I MADE THE TWO-BLOCK JAUNT (SPRINT?) BACK TO MY HOTEL.
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