Last Night's Action: Giants Stay Alive

Photograph of the Giants' Hakeem Nicks dragging Redskins safety Reed Doughty, safety LaRon Landry and cornerback Carlos Rogers with him as he carries the ball by Haraz N. Ghanbari/AP

Giants 45, Redskins 12: This game ended when the Giants took the kickoff and went on a 16-play scoring drive that took nine minutes and 13 seconds. They needed a win, and they got one by playing like they did at the beginning of the season, which, coincidentally, is when they played the easy part of their schedule. Eli Manning threw for three scores, and Ahmad Bradshaw rushed for two more -- the first two of the game. The Giants still trail the Cowboys and Packers for the wild-card playoff berths in the NFC, but they have a decent shot at catching them. New York finishes against Carolina at home and then at Minnesota. It needs two wins and help, but it could get all three.
Devils 4, Penguins 0: By holding the defending champions scoreless, Martin Brodeur broke the NHL record for shutouts, passing Terry Sawchuk's 103. He made 35 saves and reaped the benefits of goals from Bryce Salvador, Niclas Bergfors, Patrik Elias and Mark Fraser. Brodeur is now the NHL record-holder for appearances by a goalie, wins (he got there faster because of shootout wins) and shutouts. This performance came only two days after he was pulled in a loss to Atlanta.
Rangers 3, Hurricanes 1: Marian Gaborik scored his league-leading 25th goal to help the Rangers avoid the embarrassment of losing to Carolina. The Rangers have won three straight.
Lightning 4, Islanders 2: The Islanders lead 1-0 and 2-1 but gave up two power-play goals in the third period to fall. Trent Hunter (on the power play himself) and Nate Thompson had the goals in the loss.

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By Tom Boorstein in News on December 22, 2009 12:00 AM

Comments [rss]

gtraindelay

"(he got there faster because of shootout wins)"

Cheap shot. I am fairly certain he hold the wins record for regulation wins now too. C'mon - what's with the slight?

jaycjay

So apparently the rules allow only the Devils to play in shootouts? How else could this be an advantage for Brodeur over every other goaltender who's played the same career span?

If you're going to say that the rule change gives goalies of recent years advantages over those in history in terms of accumulating stats, you should also get into increases in the length of the season, expansion, tinkering with equipment regulations (goalie pads and sticks, curvature of skaters' sticks), crease changes, etc. Oh yeah, and masks, which allow today's goalies to play a completely different and more effective style than they could have in the Original Six days -- when a goalie would do everything he could to stay on his feet.

I've never been a Devils fan and don't even like Brodeur, but you have to recognize and admire his talents and accomplishments.

whitecastlerock

Brodeur has to be considered one of the greatest goaltenders in the history of the game. He didn't ask for the shootout, nor did he ask for rules changes that limited his ability to handle the puck. A 3 time Stanley Cup winner, 4 time Vezina winner and a 10 time All Star. The remark wasn't a cheap shot-it was simply a stupid one.