NEWARK – The backup Devils goalie Johan Hedberg knew for days that he would not be starting on Thursday against the Los Angeles Kings, but he always tries to be ready just in case. The preparation paid off when Hedberg replaced an injured Martin Brodeur, stopped all 16 shots he faced in regulation and two more in a shootout to give the Devils a 2-1 win.
Brodeur, 39, left the game at Prudential Center after the first period with an injury that the Devils called “upper body soreness.” He appeared to injure his shoulder when he lunged across the crease to make a save on Los Angeles defenseman Alec Martinez midway through the first period. After the victory, Brodeur said team doctors advised him to be cautious and sit out, but he said he was not concerned about the severity of the injury.
Devils fans could exhale over the not-so-bad news, and the praise belonged to Hedberg for saving the night. With 2 minutes 40 seconds left in overtime, Hedberg slid across his crease to stop a slap shot by defenseman Drew Doughty. In the shootout, he responded to goals by teammates Ilya Kovalchuk and Zach Parise with stops on Simon Gagne and Anze Kopitar to earn the Devils the extra point awarded for the victory.
“I always try to stay focused on the bench,” said Hedberg, who acknowledged that playing Monday in the Devils’ 4-2 win over Carolina also helped.
It cannot be easy for a goaltender to enter a game with little time to stretch and no opportunity to warm up by facing a few shots. Hedberg began mentally preparing in the first period, when he saw Brodeur wince in pain during an injury timeout. Hedberg got the call to enter the game a few minutes into the first intermission. Surprisingly, Hedberg didn’t spend a lot of time in the dressing room stretching.
“No, for me, it’s more about preparing mentally,” he said. “I have this little routine I go through, and then I warm up. I get a little nervous, the adrenaline starts creeping in and I get ready to play the game. It felt like it was going to be a close one, so I just went out and tried to have fun.”
Brodeur stopped 15 of 16 shots in the first period, keeping the Devils in the game after they played sluggishly in the opening 10 minutes.
“We’d like to throw that out,” Devils Coach Peter DeBoer said of the poor start. “We talked through a couple of things during the injury timeout while the trainers were looking at Marty. I thought from that point on, we played a better game.”
As for Hedberg, DeBoer said, “To come in cold in that situation and pitch a game like that — both goalies did a great job for us tonight.”
Despite his strong play, Hedberg would have been tagged with a loss if the Devils had failed to win the shootout. Gagne showed Hedberg a few dekes, but Hedberg stayed with him from post to post. When Kopitar lined up at center ice for his one-on-one, Hedberg had a flashback to an earlier encounter with him.
“I remembered Kopitar beating me in L. A. and making me look really bad,” said Hedberg, who has stopped more than 80 percent of his shootout chances in his N.H.L. career. “I wanted to get him back.”
This is Hedberg’s 11th season in the league, yet he had no trouble remembering the details of Kopitar’s one-on-one goal three years ago.
“I try to keep a book on all of the shooters,” he said. “It’s funny. Sometimes I can barely remember anything, but I do remember that. I like the shootout. It’s a fun challenge.”
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