THERE’S a puck there somewhere. In Marty Brodeur’s feet, rolling up his arm. Now, all he has to do is find it.
On the first shift last night, Chris Therien pushed the puck on goal from the left point. Brodeur patted at the centipede like an hysterical housewife caught without a broom and afraid to look before finally making the kill.
On the second shift, Valeri Zelepukin launched a drive from along the left boards that squeezed between Brodeur’s legs as he dropped down, forcing him to put his glove behind him in the universal sign of goaltender distress. And very quickly the Devils, only one entire period and two days removed from outclassing the Flyers, began playing like they feared they would have to hold them to six shots to win.
The visitors had that many before the first period was over, along with a goal by Mark Recchi when Brodeur bought a swing-and-a-miss by John LeClair and flopped like a mutant Hudson River fish. The Flyers had a 3-1 lead after two periods after Keith Jones put in a rebound and Rick Tocchet, sent in by 60-foot lead pass by Keith Primeau, blew a shot from just below the top of the circle through Brodeur’s unset legs.
And, at the end of a stunning evening at the Meadowlands, the Flyers had a 4-2 victory and an edge, both in the series, and shockingly, in goal.
With rookie Brian Boucher making all the requisite standup saves, plus a spectacular, rollover, glove-arm-flinging imitation of Dominik Hasek on a Patrick Elias shorthanded breakaway, the Flyers blocked shots, sealed the slot, caught the Devils in transition and played the kind of intelligently-daring hockey that teams do when they believe their goalie will erase their odd mistakes. The new, go-go Devils, meanwhile, are looking like the same old, guys who couldn’t buy a goal with George Steinbrenner’s $175 million check, which is what happens when you play from behind an 8-ball in your goal.
“I don’t think this will go down as one of [Brodeur’s] better days, but he’s keeping us in most games and it’s about time we returned the favor,” said coach Larry Robinson.
A noble thought, and when Scott Niedermayer, picking up a broken down Peter Sykora shot, put one through a screen and off Boucher’s shoulder, the Devils were back in it, down only 3-2 with four long minutes to go.
But Brodeur failed to reciprocate as Simon Gagne swept across the goalmouth on a semi-breakaway, not even attempting a poke check as the Flyer rookie went forehand-to-backhand to put the game away. Given one last chance to keep his team in the game, Brodeur failed miserably. His biggest contribution was the 39-stitch cuts he opened in LeClaire’s face following through on a third-period clear.
“It was the worst game I played so far in the playoffs,” he said. “We lost and I was a non-factor in the game, and that’s not good enough for me.”
Nor was it for the Devils, who were completely screened of any opportunity to foresee their world-class goalie going suddenly and inexplicably bad. Brodeur, who had not enjoyed a strong playoff since the Devils won it all in 1995, had been having one now, a truth obscured by Toronto’s puny six shots in an elimination game.
The Leafs had a one-goal lead into the second period of Game 5, their own intimidating presence in goal in Curtis Joseph and some superior chances to put the Devils into a 3-2 hole, but Brodeur kept the Devils on course in the pivotal game of the series. Now, they face two more of those in a row against a rookie goalie who is playing more unconscious than a Flyer being told he doesn’t have a concussion.
The kid doesn’t look just happy to be in his first semifinal series, we kid you not. And Brodeur suddenly doesn’t look like himself, nor sound like himself. In the course of his mea culpa, he hauled out the oldest excuse in the Jacques Plante manual: Bad equipment.
“I didn’t notice, but I got a shot in the warm-up and my [skate] blade was bent,” Brodeur said. “We fixed it after the first period. That’s why I lost my balance on the Zelepukin shot.”
The Flyers noticed Brodeur’s skate problems immediately and didn’t wait until they saw the whites of his eyes to fire away.
“We said on the bench it looked like he was fiddling around with one of his skate edges,” said Keith Primeau. “We thought if we put some shots up and hit some traffic, maybe we could sneak one by him. We were able to do that early and it was important.”
Brodeur really didn’t make a superior save all night, which was even more important, considering that his skate was fully operational for the last three goals. He is, of course, much better than this, and better be quickly, too, or the Devils are cooked.