Minus their top goalie, Devils still silence Pens

Scott Clemmensen had 20 minutes of NHL experience before Tuesday's 3-0 win.
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- The defending Stanley Cup champion New Jersey Devils are one of the NHL's best teams with Martin Brodeur in goal. Remarkably, they're even better without him.
The Devils remained unbeaten during Brodeur's infrequent days off, beating the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-0 Tuesday with the just-recalled Scott Clemmensen getting a shutout in his first NHL start.
Turner Stevenson scored twice and set up Jeff Friesen's goal to help a not-too-nervous Clemmensen weather a first period in which the Penguins outshot the Devils 13-4. Despite the disparity in shots, the Devils took a 1-0 lead when Stevenson scored midway through the period off Friesen's pass across the crease.
Short-timer
After that, Clemmensen -- who had only 20 minutes of NHL experience before Tuesday -- found it much easier than most nights in net for Albany of the AHL. With the River Rats, he was 5-12-4 with a mediocre 3.07 goals-against average and a .902 save percentage.
"I'm used to seeing a lot more shots -- a lot more quality shots," said Clemmensen, who faced only 12 shots over the final two periods. "So it was a little easier [than playing in the AHL]. They had a lot of scoring chances, but they didn't get a lot of good wood on them and I was able to survive."
So did the Devils, who are 20-11-9-1 when Brodeur plays and 3-0-1 when he doesn't, allowing only two goals in those four games. The Devils have shut out the Penguins behind a backup goalie in each of their last two games in Pittsburgh; Corey Schwab beat them 2-0 on Dec. 27.
Schwab was supposed to start again Tuesday, but injured his groin during practice Monday. Coach Pat Burns had already promised Brodeur the night off, so the Devils' staff decided to call up Clemmensen to play.
"As many games as he does play, maybe something in us makes us tighten up [when he doesn't play]," Friesen said. "Maybe psychologically the other team thinks it's an advantage he's not playing."
Under wraps
Most of the Devils knew Monday that Brodeur wouldn't play, but New Jersey tried to keep it from the Penguins until just before the game -- even if Pittsburgh coach Eddie Olczyk said he found out at mid-afternoon.
Coincidentally, Clemmensen was a seventh-round pick in 1997, when the NHL draft was held in Pittsburgh.
"Some of our guys have played against him," Olczyk said. "We certainly had our chances. We probably missed the net 15 times and then refused to shoot another dozen times. We had our chances, but the kid in net played well."
So did Stevenson, who figured in every goal -- not exactly an unheard-of occurrence against Pittsburgh. He had only three goals in 24 games this season before Tuesday, but has 10 of his 65 NHL goals in 39 career games against the Penguins.
Needed push
"We need to get a big push in before the All-Star break, and that's a team we need to beat -- for sure," Stevenson said.
After all, most teams do. The Penguins' 11-29-5-3 record is the NHL's worst, and they're only a loss away from matching the franchise record of seven consecutive home losses, set during the 1983-84 season. They've been outscored 29-3 in losing their last six home games.