SAVING FACE: With teammate Anton Volchenkov backing him up, Devils goaltender Martin Brodeur makes one of his 23 saves in last night’s Game 2 at the Garden. (Charles Wenzelberg)
It must have been coincidence. The game after Martin Brodeur suggested Rangers might get hurt blocking shots, the Rangers blocked 38 percent fewer and the Devils started scoring goals by deflecting the unblocked ones.
Call it coincidence, but the Devils triumphed, squaring the Eastern Conference Final while taking home-ice advantage from the top-seeded Gardeners.
Coincidence that blocked shots dropped from 26 to 16?
“I don’t know,” Brodeur told The Post with a knowing smile, when asked if it was, indeed, coincidence. “We played well. We made it happen.
“That’s what I meant anyway, when I said it, that we had to find a way. Probably didn’t use the right words. I’m OK with it. I don’t mean any harm to anybody, everybody knows that. We had to find a way, and we found a way today.”
The ‘way’ was finding a way to score. Ryan Carter and David Clarkson each deflected those unblocked point shots past Henrik Lundqvist last night for a comeback 3-2 victory in Game 2 in Manhattan.
Those two goals were exactly what the Devils wanted, point shots that eluded absent blockers which could be redirected. Carter ended a span of 145:54 the Devils had gone without an even-strength goal. Clarkson had the previous one, in the first period of Game 5 against the Flyers.
Clarkson followed with the winner, his third goal and third game-winner of the playoffs, one winner short of the Devils’ single postseason record.
While they were winning, Devils shots staggered defensemen Ryan McDonagh and Marc Staal, although both plays appeared innocent, and each continued play.
After the Rangers blocked 26 shots in winning the series opener 3-0 Monday, Brodeur’s comments even prompted reaction from the highest Ranger brass, general manager Glen Sather. It did not go unnoticed.
“They’re hot at blocking shots. We might be able to hurt a few guys hitting one-timers in the foot and their head or something,” Brodeur said Monday.
A spokesman’s “clarification” said Brodeur did not endorse head-hunting, calling that comment “off the cuff.”
Certainly, Brodeur’s comment didn’t embolden anyone.
“I don’t know if it’s coincidence,” said Dainius Zubrus, a monster again for the Devils. “We tried to get it through and our guys did a good job.”
Yesterday, one Devils player told The Post shooting at a shot blocker is analogous to a shortstop plugging a runner who doesn’t slide, staying up trying to break up a double play.
“That’s what I think,” the Devil said.
On Tuesday, another Devil made clear his true sentiment, off the record, about plunking sliding blockers.
“I can’t tell you that to put in the paper,” he said.
While they were at it, the Devils returned defenseman Peter Harrold to the lineup, replacing rookie Adam Larsson in an effort to get more shots through from the point. Larsson had one on Lundqvist in the opener, but saw four blocked. Harrold had two on net last night, without one being blocked.
Then there’s Bryce Salvador, who added two more assists for a 2-6-8 total in 14 games, after having four points in 49 previous playoff games. He had nine points in 82 games this season.
Now the Devils are in the same position as they were in the last round, heading home with the momentum of victory from a road split. The Flyers never won again.
“We have something positive coming home,” Zubrus said.
And they’ve solved, at least for one game, their first issue of this series, getting past those blockers.
mark.everson@nypost.com