Devils vs. Rangers Game 5: Martin Brodeur's Toughness Sets Up Devils for Win

The first two times the Devils lost to New York in the Eastern Conference finals, New Jersey's offense was rendered completely ineffective, suffering shutouts at the hands of Henrik Lundqvist. Martin Brodeur knew he needed to be more than just OK if his team was going to have a shot at winning. 

On Monday night in Game 4, he did just that, allowing only one goal, taking a punch from a former teammate and even tallying an assist in New Jersey's 4-1 win. That seemed to be enough.

In their two losses in this series, the Devils have been outscored 6-0, and they returned the favor on Monday, handing New York a frustrating 4-1 loss that involved almost as many skirmishes as goals.

One of those, of course, happened in the third period, when Mike Rupp hit Brodeur in his upper chest, near his mask. In light of the win, Brodeur laughed about it, telling the New York Daily News' Kristie Ackert afterward, "It surprised me more than anything...Now at least I know I can take a punch."

Brodeur wasn't rattled, which was the intended effect; he was amused. It was his composure—and his 27 saves—that allowed New Jersey to even the series at two wins apiece and helped his team rebound from its latest 3-0 shutout.

The team with composure is the one with the momentum going into Game 5 (Wednesday at 8 p.m.), and right now, New Jersey has all of it.  

On Monday, the Devils looked calm and prepared while the Rangers seemed out of sorts and jittery, as evidenced by their 12 penalties, nine of which came in a third-period unraveling.

While the Rangers did themselves in, Brodeur held strong in net and the Devils tallied two more goals in the final frame to extend their lead.

Brodeur knew he had no choice but to hold up. Lundqvist doesn't allow three goals too often (he was pulled before the Devils' final empty-netter), and when he does, Brodeur knows you have to take advantage and get a win.

Throughout the playoffs, every time Lundqvist has allowed more than two goals, the Rangers have lost. So once Brodeur's offense tallied that third goal just under three minutes into the third period, Brodeur knew what he had to do, and he'd withstand anything to get it—even a punch.

The Devils' last win in Game 2 was a much tighter 3-2 victory. Now, they know they can do to the Rangers exactly what the Rangers have done to them in their two wins: frustrate them, defeat them mentally, drive them off the edge and force them into defeating themselves with penalties.

All the Devils have to do is force that plan to fruition two more times.