ESPN NHL

Look out, Tony O. And George Hainsworth's seemingly unreachable 22-shutout season might be in trouble, too.

Martin Brodeur made 15 saves Thursday night in New Jersey's 3-0 victory over Atlanta to earn his league-leading eighth shutout of the season. A little more than a third of the way through the 82-game season and Brodeur is more than halfway to breaking Blackhawks great Tony Esposito's modern record of 15 shutouts in a season (1969-70).

The overall lack of scoring combined with New Jersey's stifling defense might even allow Brodeur to push George Hainsworth's NHL-record 22 shutouts. The Canadiens legend set that in 1928-29, when the season was 44 games, forward passes weren't allowed across the blue line and the red line hadn't been introduced.

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