Boucher Sets Shutout Mark

Phoenix Coyote goaltender Brian Boucher broke the record for the longest shutout streak in modern NHL history, extending his string to more than five hours in a 2-0 victory over the Minnesota Wild Friday night at St. Paul

Boucher’s streak stands at 325:45. He stopped 21 shots and posted his fifth consecutive shutout.

Early in the third period, Boucher passed Bill Durnan’s mark of 309:21 -- set in 1949 with Montreal. He has 130 saves since the streak began.

“I did look up at the clock. Once I saw it was, I think, four minutes into the third, I knew I could breathe easy as far as the streak is concerned,” Boucher said.

“That is probably the first time I really was counting down. I hate to do that, but I don’t know if anyone could ignore it.”

Boucher, whose mask is painted to look like a wall built with bricks, improved to 6-2-4.

“It’s just been unbelievable. It’s just a great ride we’re on right now,” he said.

“I still haven’t really stopped to think about it too much. I mean, I can’t explain what’s going on. As I said before, I went 85 games without a shutout and now I’ve got five in a row. I’m just going to enjoy every minute of it.”

Ossi Vaananen and Fredrik Sjostrom scored for the Coyotes, who tied a franchise record by extending their unbeaten streak on the road to nine games (5-0-4). The last four of Boucher’s shutouts have come on the road.

Dwayne Roloson made 30 saves for the Wild, 1-3-5 in their last nine games.

Tampa Bay 4, New Jersey 1 -- Dave Andreychuk and Fredrik Modin scored the two fastest goals in Lightning history, tallying nine seconds apart in the third period at East Rutherford, N.J.

The quick goals broke the mark of 11 seconds set last Saturday by Ben Clymer and Ruslan Fedotenko against Philadelphia.

The previous record of 12 seconds was set in 1993 and matched on two other occasions, the last time in 2002 by Modin and Martin St. Louis.

The win moved the Lightning into a tie with idle Atlanta for first place in the Southeast Division.

Washington 4, Carolina 1 -- At Washington, the Capitals ended a seven game winless streak (0-6-1) and recorded the 1,000th regular-season victory in the franchise’s 30-year history.

Buffalo 3, Ottawa 2 -- Rory Fitzpatrick’s third-period power-play goal and Martin Biron’s 23 saves at Buffalo helped end the Senators’ franchise-tying 11-game unbeaten streak.

*

Dave Lewis of the Detroit Red Wings will coach the Western Conference and Pat Quinn of the Toronto Maple Leafs will lead the Eastern Conference in the NHL All-Star game on Feb. 8 at St. Paul, Minn. Vancouver’s Marc Crawford will assist Lewis and Philadelphia’s Ken Hitchcock will assist Quinn.

*

The Dallas Stars put center Mike Modano on the injured reserve list because of a groin injury. The move is retroactive to Jan. 2, when he suffered the injury during a 6-0 loss to Phoenix. Modano, 33, will be re-evaluated next week.

*

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

Press Zero for Record

Phoenix goaltender Brian Boucher extended his shutout streak to an NHL regular-season-record 325 minutes 45 seconds in a 2-0 victory over Minnesota -- his fifth shutout in a row. The longest shutout streaks:

*--* Length Goaltender, Team 325:45 BRIAN BOUCHER, Phoenix Dec. 27, 2003-present 309:21 BILL DURNAN, Montreal Feb. 24-Mar. 9, 1949 245:33 TURK BRODA, Toronto Oct. 15-29, 1950 237:07 J.S. GIGUERE, Mighty Ducks Dec. 6-18, 2002 227:40 JOHN VANBIESBROUCK, Phila. Oct. 17-26, 1999

*--*