Brodeur_Stamkos_Saed.jpg

Devils goalie Martin Brodeur robs Steven Stamkos Thursday night.

(Photo by Saed Hindash/The Star-Ledger)

Martin Brodeur will reach another milestone that no other NHL goaltender has experienced when he plays in his 1,200th career regular season game tomorrow afternoon against the Pittsburgh Penguins at Prudential Center.



But he may need a little cooperation from the weather.

“I'll try to get through the snowstorm first and then I’ll get excited tomorrow," Brodeur said with a laugh. "Hopefully there will be a game. Hopefully there will be people watching the game.”

If both teams and the on-ice officials are present, the game will be played. It would have to be postponed by the NHL, not by the Devils.

By late today the league had no plans to postpone the game or push the starting time back. If the two teams and officials are present, the NHL usually will follow guidelines set by the State of New Jersey or the City of Newark. If there is a state of emergency, a postponement would be possible. The teams are scheduled to meet again Sunday night in Pittsburgh.

The Devils weren’t worried enough even to keep their players overnight in a local hotel.

“No, guys don’t live that far away," coach Pete DeBoer said. "We’ll cross our fingers. I’m sure it will be fine. We addressed it as a team. We talked about tomorrow morning. I don’t know if there is a solution. We told them to leave early.”

The Penguins were already in New Jersey this afternoon.



For Brodeur, playing in 1,200 games (he's also appeared in 205 playoff games) is special despite his many records.

"It's kind of hard to get to these numbers," he said. "Wins and all that are one thing, but being durable and able to play for so long and having the organization trust you to be between the pipes for them for that long, I guess it means a lot. I like to play games and if you look at the numbers I've played a lot.



"There are so many (factors). You definitely need to be at a certain level to play for that long in the NHL. It's not an easy league to be part of. I was fortunate to be on a team that believed in me and wanted me in net."



DeBoer will coach his 339th NHL regular season game, which puts 1,200 into perspective.



"It's unbelievable. You put that number in perspective with the number of playoff games he's played, too, and it's hard to put into words the accomplishment of that," DeBoer said. "He keep impressing me on a daily basis."



Brodeur, 40, seems to be enjoying the game more the last couple of seasons.



"You have games where you feel good and other games where it's a little harder. When you get to a certain age you appreciate the game a little more because you know there's not many left," the goalie noted. "So you want to go out and try to perform. I work hard. I want to make sure I'm ready when I'm called upon in these games.



"It's a great atmosphere in this locker room the last two years with the success we had last year and starting this year with similar faces around. It helps me to be successful, to a certain extent, knowing what to expect every night when you get in there."



The Devils have a score to settle with the Penguins, who punished them, 5-1, last Saturday in Pittsburgh.



"I don't want to say you think of it as payback, but they're always a top team every year for a reason. As are we," David Clarkson said. "We want every team in the league to feel when they come into this building it's going to be a hard game.

“Pittsburgh is a heck of a hockey team. They press you all over the ice. I believe, and I think you have to always believe, in what is in your locker room. We didn’t play our best game against them. Tomorrow afternoon we have to come out with that jump and spark.”

Can the Devils match up?

“We’ll see after these two games,” Patrik Elias said of the weekend home-and-home. “We didn’t play well enough in their building. The work ethic was there but not the smarts. It seemed like we were just chasing and wasting energy all the time.

"They're talented guys. It's just a matter of us playing our game. If we do that we believe we can beat them."



Ilya Kovalchuk wasn't concerned with comparisons to the Penguins.



"In this league anybody can beat anybody. I don't really care who we're playing against. I take it as a challenge and try to perform the best I can," he said.

"Yes, 5-1 is unacceptable. The first two periods Marty kept us in the game. We were horrible but it was still a 2-1 game. Then they scored two quick goals in the third and it was game over. Overall we have to be better. We can't give them that much room. We can't turn the puck over like we did, especially with (Evgeni) Malkin and (Sidney) Crosby there."



Brodeur said: "The guys are real focused. It said a lot about our team last night. It would've been easy to kind of overlook Tampa even though they're a good team knowing that we just played the Rangers and have a back-to-back matchup against Pittsburgh. But we came through and played well.

“Pittsburgh has always been a tough team to play against because of the high skill level they have. We didn’t play well and we were in the game going into the third period. We had, I think, three chances to tie up the game early in the third. After that it went south on us. Through a season games like that will happen.

"That's what a shortened season will bring. It's four points one way or the other. It's going to swing pretty hard. For us to get close to them or past them, or them taking a good step in front of us. So there is a lot at stake."



And another milestone to reach.

“Anytime you’re playing that team it’s always a test early in the season,” DeBoer said. “They are definitely the bar in our division and probably in the conference with Boston. It’s a great measuring stick to see where you are. And, seeing how the last game went, it’s an opportunity for us to hopefully not make some of the same mistakes we made.”

* * *

Brodeur and backup Johan Hedberg have been impressive this season.

"We expected it to a certain extent," Brodeur said. "We have a lot of pride and we know we were scrutinized a little bit because of our age coming out of a long layoff we had because of the lockout. We prepared ourselves real well to get to this point and we just have to continue.



"Our job is not to win every single hockey game. It's to give our team a chance to win. So far me and Heddy have been doing that and we have to keep doing that. We're the type of team that's not going to score 5-6 goals a game so we need to make the big saves."

* * *

DeBoer hopes the Devils can build off their performance against the Lightning.



"I thought the guys did a good job," the coach said. "There were a lot of things that were stacked (against us). It could've been a real trap game for us, coming off the Rangers game, our sixth game in 10 nights and looking forward to the Pittsburgh games. I thought our group came focused and ready to realize the importance of the two points at hand. And to give Tampa the proper amount of respect. I thought we played with a little fear for what they could potentially do to you if you give them room. That's when we're usually at our best.



Kovalchuk: "Obviously these are two big games. It's four points every game. It will be a great test for us and we can really see where we're at."

Rich Chere: rchere@starledger.com; twitter.com/Ledger_NJDevils