by MARK EVERSON , The New York Post

Lightning 1

TAMPA - The road has become the Devils' playground.

They found another way to win away from home yesterday and another hero in shootout scorer David Clarkson as they stretched their team-record perfect road start to seven victories - equaling the second-longest in NHL history.

Now, especially after yesterday's 2-1 shootout victory over the Lightning here, the Devils are starting to believe that they can bring this road recipe back to Newark and do something about that 1-4 home embarrassment. They play host to Washington Wednesday and the Islanders Friday.

"We're doing something pretty hard to do. Winning all these games on the road is quite an accomplishment," Martin Brodeur said. "It's something hard to do, and I don't think there's a lot we need to do at home to switch it around. It's the little things. We have to find a way to put that in our game back home."

Big things, too, though, like scoring goals. For the third straight game, they failed to score more than two, and it nearly cost them their streak in a game they dominated. The Devils held 13-3 and 28-9 shot advantages at the intermissions, including Jamie Langenbrunner's saved penalty shot, and had only Travis Zajac's second period rebound goal to show for it.

Brodeur said he figured he'd have to tie Terry Sawchuk's NHL shutout record of 103 to win in regulation.

"I said to myself, 'It doesn't look like we're going to score too many goals, so I'll have to get the shutout,' " Brodeur said.

"I was really scared after two periods," Jacques Lemaire said. "We were getting good chances, hitting posts and not able to get that second goal. It is scary. Then a [Steve Stamkos third-period] shot hit a skate and went in, and then you're thinking, let's make sure we get a point, at least."

Both teams had chances to win in overtime, but in the shootout, Tampa Bay coach Rick Tocchet failed to use Martin St. Louis, and didn't try Vincent Lecavalier until the fourth round. Nobody scored on Brodeur, Lecavalier's softie the only one on net, while Antero Niittymaki gloved the bids by previously perfect Zach Parise and Jamie Langenbrunner, then saw Travis Zajac shoot wide.

Then Lemaire, at the suggestion of assistant Mario Tremblay, sent out Clarkson for his first NHL shootout attempt and his backhand move extended the road record.

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Already owning the longest perfect road start in team history, the Devils matched the second-longest in NHL history, behind the first 10 road victories of the 2006-07 Sabres. That Buffalo team holds the NHL record of winning its first 10 road games.

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