Brodeur ties wins record as Devils stay hot in Montreal

Hockey Betting Lines

03/14/2009 - Montreal, QC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Martin Brodeur is now tied with Patrick Roy for the most wins in NHL history as his 22-save performance led the New Jersey Devils to a 3-1 win over the Montreal Canadiens at the Bell Centre.

The win came in his native hometown as the 36-year-old Brodeur notched the 551st win of his stellar career to tie Roy, who tallied the bulk of his wins with the Habs and was in attendance for the game.

"I feel great, I'm definitely happy it's over with," said Brodeur. "Coming into Montreal it was hectic with family and press conferences and all."

In addition to the win record, Brodeur is sitting on 100 shutouts and is just three away from tying Terry Sawchuk in that category.

He will have his first shot at the wins record on Tuesday when the Devils host the Blackhawks.

"Hockey is all about winning," said Brodeur. "You jump on to the ice as a group and the record says a lot about the guys I've played with and the organization I've been a part of."

Brian Rolston and Jamie Langenbrunner each lit the lamp for the Devils, who have won seven of their last eight games since Brodeur returned to play on February 26 after sitting out since early November due to shoulder surgery.

Patrik Elias tallied a goal and an assist to give him 701 points in his career, tying John MacLean for first place all-time in Devils franchise history.

Tomas Plekanec scored the lone goal while Jaroslav Halak made 45 saves in the loss for the Canadiens, who have dropped four of their last six games.

New Jersey got on the board at the 5:27 mark of the first period courtesy of a 5-on-3 power play. A right circle faceoff win saw the puck find its way back to the right point where Elias slapped the puck cleanly past Halak.

The Devils made it a 2-0 game with another power-play goal. A dump-in attempt by Niclas Havelid was knocked down, but the puck bounced off the left boards and Rolston blasted it past a surprised Halak.

Montreal, though, got one back at the 12:29 mark of the first as a turnaround shot from Plekanec near the right boards got past Brodeur to make it a 2-1 game.

The middle stanza passed scoreless, but there were plenty of shots on net as Brodeur had to make 11 saves while Halak was peppered with 18 shots, all of which he turned aside.

The Habs were awarded an early power play in the third when Bryce Salvador flipped the puck over the glass after the whistle, which cost him a delay of game call, but Brodeur stood tall and made a couple of nice stops during the man advantage.

The Devils gave themselves and Brodeur some insurance when Travis Zajac threw a pass from the low left boards to the left circle where Langenbrunner one- timed it over the glove of Halak with 7:03 to play.

In all, New Jersey limited Montreal's chances in the third period as the Habs managed just five shots on net, all of which Brodeur turned aside to take his place in history as his teammates flooded the ice and the fans gave him a standing ovation.

Game Notes

Montreal defenseman Patrice Brisebois played in his 1,000th NHL game... Rolston's goal was the 300th of his career...The Canadiens host the Rangers on Tuesday...New Jersey swept the season series against Montreal for the third time in the past four years...The Devils went 2-for-6 on the power play while Montreal went 0-for-2...Also in attendance was Brodeur's father.

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Las Vegas Sports Consultants (LVSC) is the world’s premier oddsmaking company and the most respected authority on making the lines. Mike Seba is a Senior Oddsmaker at LVSC and has been making lines for the last six years. In our extended interview, Seba explained that there are 4-5 oddsmakers assigned to make lines for each of the major sports (pro & college football and basketball; MLB, NHL, boxing, golf). Each of these oddsmakers bring unique opinions, strengths and weaknesses to the process. Oddsmakers at LVSC are professional sports junkies who love what they do and would probably do it for nothing if you asked them, but they do get paid for it. By necessity their approach is very research-oriented and concise, since with millions of dollars at risk there is little margin for error.

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Divided action means the sportsbook is guaranteed a profit on the game because of the fee charged to the bettor (called juice or vig – typically $11 bet to win $10).

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The opening line is the first line created by the oddsmakers, which is then sent out to sportsbooks. Of course there is an entire method to the madness on how the opening line is created. Seba explained that it all starts with each oddsmaker creating a line on each game based upon their own personal approach. This usually includes having up-to-date power ratings on each team.

Power ratings are the oddsmaker’s value of each team and are used as a guide to calculate a "preliminary" pointspread on an upcoming game. The power ratings are adjusted after each game a team plays. Examples of non-game factors that would require an adjustment to a team's power rating are key player injuries and player trades.

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The purpose of these adjustments, like all line adjustments, is to more equally divide the betting action.

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