Martin Brodeur has been chasing history for nearly three weeks -- that's how long it's been since he earned his 102nd career shutout, one short of Terry Sawchuk's NHL regular-season career record. The New York Islanders have been his favorite victims -- so it wouldn't be a surprise if he reached the milestone on Friday night, when the Islanders come to the Prudential Center to face the New Jersey Devils (7 p.m. ET) in one of six games on the NHL schedule.

Brodeur has 10 of his 102 shutouts against the Islanders, though he hasn't blanked them since a 2-0 victory on Feb. 17, 2007. Brodeur's last five shutouts have come at the Prudential Center, most recently a 2-0 win over Carolina on Oct. 17.

The Devils are 7-0-0 on the road but just 2-4-0 at home, though they did beat the Washington Capitals 3-2 at The Rock on Wednesday. That was the same night the Isles had their four-game winning streak snapped with a 3-0 loss at Buffalo.

Also at 7, the Toronto Maple Leafs visit Carolina in a battle of the bottom two teams in the early-season standings. Toronto is 1-7-5 and has dropped three in a row in overtime; Carolina (2-9-3) has dropped its last 10 games, including a 3-0 loss at Florida on Wednesday.

The Buffalo Sabres try to continue their early-season success when they host the Philadelphia Flyers at HSBC Arena (7:30 p.m. ET). The Sabres improved to 9-2-1 with their victory over the Islanders, while Philadelphia (7-4-1) has been off since routing Tampa Bay 6-2 at home on Monday.

Also at 7:30, the Washington Capitals visit Florida in the front end of a weekend home-and-home series. The Caps lost their third in a row by allowing a pair of third-period power-play goals on Wednesday, while the Panthers survived an early blitz by Carolina for a 3-0 victory, their third win in a row.

The Vancouver Canucks, 5-2 winners at Minnesota on Thursday, visit the Dallas Stars (8:30 p.m. ET). The injury-riddled Canucks hope to get All-Star goaltender Roberto Luongo back from a broken rib at some point during their five-game trip, though they've been staying afloat behind backup Andrew Raycroft. The Stars (6-3-6) are tough to beat in regulation but have difficulties when the game is tied after 60 minutes -- they're 1-6 in overtime and shootouts, including Wednesday's 3-2 OT loss to Calgary.

The Colorado Avalanche, the only team that hasn't lost at home, will try to stay perfect at the Pepsi Center when the Chicago Blackhawks come to town (9 p.m. ET). The Avs beat Phoenix 4-1 on Wednesday to improve to 5-0-0 at home. The Blackhawks come to Denver from Phoenix, where they lost 3-1 to the Coyotes on Thursday.