Brodeur hits milestone in blanking Hurricanes

On the night the Devils retired the jersey number of longtime defenseman Scott Stevens, Martin Brodeur became the third goaltender in NHL history to reach 100 shutouts and New Jersey beat the Carolina Hurricanes, 3-0, last night in East Rutherford, N.J.

Patrik Elias, Zach Parise, and Brian Gionta scored goals for the Devils to back Brodeur, who had 28 saves. Brodeur joined Terry Sawchuk (115) and George Hainsworth (102) as the only goalies to register 100 or more shutouts in the regular season and playoffs combined.

Brodeur has five shutouts this season -- all in the past five weeks -- and is seventh all-time with 80 regular-season shutouts.

The victory was the seventh straight at home for the Devils, and it snapped a five-game winning streak by Southeast Division-leading Carolina.

Before the game, a 30-minute ceremony was held to honor Stevens, who retired in September after captaining the Devils to Stanley Cups in 1995, 2000, and 2003. The first jersey retirement in franchise history drew the first sellout of the season for New Jersey.

Capitals 4, Maple Leafs 1 -- Alexander Ovechkin picked up an assist in his return to the Washington lineup, and Chris Clark and Ben Clymer each had a goal and an assist to lift host Washington. Ovechkin, the NHL's offensive player of the month for January, missed Washington's last game -- a 5-3 loss to the Islanders -- because of a groin injury.

Canucks 3, Flames 1 -- Henrik Sedin had a goal and an assist and Daniel Sedin added three assists as the brothers sparked visiting Vancouver over Calgary and into a first-place tie with the Flames in the Northwest Division.

Panthers 5, Thrashers 2 -- Chris Gratton scored twice, Jon Sim had the go-ahead goal in the third period, and host Florida handed Atlanta its seventh straight loss. Joe Nieuwendyk and Nathan Horton also scored for Florida.