There’s still greatness in The Greatest Goalie. More than a touch of clutch, too.
It looks like a setup job now, Scotty Bowman head games, the ignominy of being yanked serving as motivation for Thursday night’s perfect performance in a desperate situation.
But it could have gone the other way. That it didn’t, and that the Devils squared this playoff series 2-2 with a 4-0 victory over the Panthers, is another feather in Martin Brodeur’s mask, 17 days short of his 40th birthday.
“I’m not Superman here. I get affected by things,” Brodeur said after he broke the record for career playoff shutouts Thursday night at the Prudential Center.
“I looked closely at what happened in Game 3. I felt pretty good about what happened. It was disappointing, but I took everything in stride.
“My concentration was a lot better in this game. I tried bearing down a little more. I just wanted to play well.”
Brodeur stopped 26 shots for his 24th career playoff shutout, passing Patrick Roy for the record. He even had to stop a tough one from Dmitry Kulikov with two seconds left to complete his masterpiece. It was Brodeur’s first playoff shutout since April 23, 2009, when he blanked Carolina 1-0 for a 3-2 series lead. But they lost that first-round series in seven games.
The Devils, who play two of the final three on the road in this seven-game series, are just 3-12 in series they trailed 2-1, but they believe momentum is back on their side after two consecutive defeats.
“This was big,” David Clarkson said. “We know what this is about. We have the guys to do it. We just have to do it.”
This time, the Devils did it, and finally kept control of a game after blowing a 3-0 lead to lose Game 3, when Brodeur was yanked.
“I like our situation,” coach Pete DeBoer said. “We’re one of the best road teams in the league. I’m sure they’re going to say they’re one of the best home teams.
“But it’s a great opportunity for us. The guys would drop the puck right now, if they could.”
If past statistics are any indications, the Devils still have a lot of work to do. They are 2-7 in series they have tied 2-2 after trailing 1-2, though they’re 7-2 in those fifth games, meaning they have blown five of those series leads. Overall, they’re 9-10 in all 2-2 series and 14-5 in Game 5s.
Scott Clemmensen, 34, suffered the loss for Florida in his first career playoff start. He blanked the Devils on their final 19 shots in relief of Jose Theodore in the Panthers’ 4-3 comeback victory in Game 3 Tuesday.
The former Devil went 25-13-1 to save New Jersey’s 2008-09 season when Brodeur missed 50 games because of biceps surgery. Clemmensen stopped the first 12 shots by New Jersey Thursday night before Zach Parise opened the scoring at 6:08 of the second with a power play goal.
With Florida’s Tomas Kopecky covering Ilya Kovalchuk to prevent a one-timer power play blast, Marek Zidlicky had room and time to tee up a slap from straight out. It was deflected first by Travis Zajac and at the crease by Parise, and then went over Clemmensen’s glove.
The Devils broke the game open with three in the third from Steve Bernier, Zajac and Kovalchuk. Brodeur sent Stephen Gionta flying into the Panthers zone, and Gionta’s drop at the right circle was fired over Clemmensen’s glove by Bernier at 2:02.
Zajac gave New Jersey its third 3-0 lead of the series at 3:50, set up in the slot by David Clarkson’s romp behind the net.
Kovalchuk found himself uncovered by Kopecky to rip his second of the playoffs past Clemmensen from the left circle at 8:21. Bryce Salvador notched his second assist of the period and third of the series, after earning nine all season.
Panthers star rookie defenseman Jason Garrison sat out with a lower body injury, replaced by Keaton Ellerby. Garrison had a goal and an assist in the first three games.