East Rutherford, NJ (My Sportsbook) - The
New Jersey Devils seek their fifth consecutive victory tonight when they welcome the
Atlanta Thrashers to the Meadowlands. The Devs can also set a new franchise record with their ninth straight home win.
New Jersey is 12-0-1-1 in its last 14 games overall, and sit second in the Eastern Conference with 73 points -- one behind Ottawa.
On Wednesday, the Devils posted a 4-1 victory over the Washington Capitals at the MCI Center, as John Madden notched a natural hat trick and added an assist to pace the effort. Turner Stevenson also scored for the Devils, who have outscored opponents 14-3 the past four matches.
Martin Brodeur, who was rested during Tuesday's 4-1 victory over Buffalo after his All-Star appearance this past weekend, made 27 saves for New Jersey. The Devils have yielded more than two tallies just twice in their last 19 outings (15-2-1-1).
Brodeur improved to 29-14-3 and is one win away of becoming the first goaltender in NHL history to record 30 victories or more in eight straight seasons. Brodeur, Tony Esposito and Patrick Roy are the only netminders to have done it for seven straight years.
There was some bad news to come from Wednesday's win in Washington. Forward Sergei Brylin will miss two-to-three months of action after undergoing surgery on Thursday to repair a broken right wrist. Brylin suffered the injury in the first period of Wednesday's game when he was hit along the boards by teammate Colin White and the Caps' Steve Konowalchuk.
New Jersey can match the mark for a home winning streak set from October 9 - November 7, 1987. The Devils will host Minnesota on Sunday.
Atlanta, meanwhile, is 4-1-1 in its last six games, including Tuesday's 4-3 win in Montreal. Marc Savard's second goal of the game with 1:36 to go snapped a 3-3 tie for the Thrashers, who also received tallies from Brad Tapper and Jeff Cowan. Pasi Nurminen finished with 29 saves.
The Thrashers, who have won three straight on the road, will visit Ottawa on Saturday.
New Jersey topped Atlanta, 2-1, on October 23 and is 10-1-2 in the all-time series. The Thrashers are 0-5-1 at the Meadowlands.
