Devils 4, Islanders 0

UNIONDALE, N.Y. (AP) - Martin Brodeur overcame a first-period injury scare to help the New Jersey Devils rebound from a streak-ending loss.

The Canadian Olympic goalie made 24 saves for his fourth shutout of the season and Brian Gionta scored his 29th goal in New Jersey's 4-0 victory over the New York Islanders on Tuesday night, the Devils' 10th win in 11 games.

Brodeur twisted his left knee midway through the first period when he got tangled up with Islanders forward Oleg Kvasha after making a sprawling save on Arron Asham.

``Kvasha's skate caught my skate and it twisted my knee,'' said Brodeur, who missed six games earlier this season because of a sprained right knee. ``It's not bad. I felt it a little bit in the third period, but I'm not worried about it.''

The Devils also beat the Islanders 3-2 in a shootout Saturday for their ninth straight victory, but the season-high winning streak ended the following night with a 3-1 loss to the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden.

``It's a big win, regardless of the shutout,'' Brodeur said. ``We needed to get back on track. We had a great power play and penalty kill, two things that cost us at the Garden. We're paying attention defensively.''

Brodeur, seventh on the NHL's career shutout list with 79, improved to 24-15-3 and lowered his goals-against average to 2.59. He has all four of his shutouts this season in the last 11 games.

``He's the backbone of this team. No question,'' defenseman Colin White said. ``Our whole team has been playing well and he's back there to make the big saves. I think he's the best goalie in the league by far.''

Jamie Langenbrunner and Scott Gomez each had a goal and an assist, Viktor Kozlov also scored and Patrik Elias added two assists.

``We just had a complete team effort,'' coach Lou Lamoriello said. ``Marty deserves the shutout the way he's been playing. The team's playing better in front of him, too. It starts with the forwards and defensemen. He's been able to see the puck.''

The Islanders, shut out for the third time this season, are 2-4 under interim coach Brad Shaw and 3-12 in their last 15 games.

``We have to, as players and as coaches, do a better job of preparing guys to play,'' Shaw said. ``We were not ready physically or mentally. We didn't seem to win many puck battles tonight.''

After Gomez opened the scoring on a power play midway through the first period, Langenbrunner, Gionta and Kozlov chased Islanders goalie Rick DiPietro with goals in the first 10 minutes of the second period.

``It's disappointing, another home loss,'' DiPietro said. ``It didn't seem like we were getting the efforts we needed.

``It's tough. You never like to get pulled from a game. I felt like I didn't do anything to help. I just feel completely frustration. We don't seem to get the bounces, and we're just doing enough to lose.''

Langenbrunner scored 19 seconds into the second period, taking a pass from John Madden behind the goal, skating unchecked to the edge of the crease and putting a short forehand shot behind DiPietro. Gionta made it 3-0 at 4:34 with his 16th power-play goal, tipping Elias' shot past DiPietro from the edge of the crease.

Kozlov completed the scoring spree at 9:56, firing a shot between Islanders defenseman Radek Martinek's legs and past the screened DiPietro.

The Islanders had only two shots on goal in the period, both in the final 3:49.

DiPietro made 13 saves, and backup Wade Dubielewicz stopped all 11 shots he faced after taking over following Kozlov's goal.

The New York fans booed Islanders captain Alexei Yashin throughout the game.

``I understand they're frustrated. We're frustrated, too,'' Yashin said. ``I'm not going to quit. I'm just going to keep playing hard and try to help my team win.''

Notes: New Jersey was 2-for-4 on the power play two nights after going 0-for-6 against the Rangers. The Devils were 12-for-27 during their nine-game winning streak. ... The Devils are 12-6 since Lamoriello, the team's president and general manager, stepped behind the bench as interim coach following Larry Robinson's resignation. ... New Jersey right wing Grant Marshall sat out the game because of a pinched nerve in his neck and possible concussion. Rangers defenseman Darius Kasparaitis elbowed Marshall in the head Sunday night.