Only thing standing between Brodeur and shutout record: Mike Dunham

I've mentioned this a couple of times before, but with Brodeur tying Terry Sawchuk's mark of 103 shutouts on Monday night, it came up again.

From USA Today:

<<As Brodeur ties shutout mark, here's one that got away

By Mike Brehm, USA TODAY

New Jersey Devils goalie Martin Brodeur could have been crowned the NHL shutout king Monday instead of tying Terry Sawchuk's record of 103.

But he was denied a shot at a shutout in the 1996-97 season when backup Mike Dunham was inserted in a Nov. 9, 1996, game for 41 seconds in the third period of a 4-0 win against the New York Islanders. Brodeur had taken a shot off the shoulder before the coaching staff made the move. He has shut out the Islanders 10 times in his career.

Dunham needed to make 25 appearances that season or he would have become an unrestricted free agent on July 1. He appeared in 26 games, but a handful were less than a minute, including one of three seconds.

The Devils held onto Dunham's rights and withstood a players association grievance.

Shared shutouts don't count toward a goaltender's personal statistics, so Brodeur didn't get credit. At the time, he expressed disappointment, saying he didn't ask to be pulled.

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 Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since 1982. Visit my blog: forever1940.blogspot.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick