NHL Playoffs 2012: Martin Brodeur Shows He Can Still Be an Elite Goaltender

For all the well-deserved hype Los Angeles Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick has absorbed in the 2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs, he might meet his match in New Jersey’s Martin Brodeur if their respective teams cross paths in the final.

Brodeur has not quite been as stingy for the duration of the Devils run up to this point, but he has performed on a par much closer to Quick since the calendar shifted to May. That timely traction could presage the seasoned stopper fueling a fireworks finale in his career, complete with a fourth championship ring.

In his last eight games, Brodeur has gone 6-2 with four straight wins over the potent Philadelphia Flyers and a split of the first four games of the Eastern Conference Finals with the Rangers. He has allowed 14 goals in that span with only half of those coming at even strength.

Since May 1, Brodeur has retained a 1.69 goals-against average, coupled with a .930 save percentage.

Even in that slimmer window, none of that data is quite as impressive as Quick’s or that of Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist in the full length of the playoffs. Brodeur's save percentage is still not up to the same par as the fourth conference finalist goaltender, Mike Smith of Phoenix.

But the more indicative perspective focuses on the fact that Brodeur is 40 years of age, has not played in May since 2007 and has not taken a season this deep since 2003.

In spite of his age, Brodeur is getting better with mileage this year. In spite of the Devils’ protracted absence from the second and now third round of the playoffs, his familiarity with this situation has not grown stale.

And he does have the upper hand on his goaltending fraternity in one key area, an area that is more critical than one might think.

In Monday night’s Game 4, in addition to posting his best single-night save percentage (.966) since the first round, Brodeur tallied his fourth playoff assist, an NHL record for goaltenders in a single postseason.

After repelling successive shots by Derek Stepan and Carl Hagelin, he ventured into the trapezoid and shoveled the puck to defenseman Bryce Salvador. Salvador’s one-touch pass found Zach Parise, whose clearance out of the zone trickled into a vacant New York cage, finalizing a 4-1 victory that tied the series at two games apiece.

In turn, the latest edition of the Hudson River Rivalry is now a best-of-three, with two of those potential three games to be held in the Rangers mansion.

But it is worth noting that Brodeur’s last two championship campaigns included an Eastern Conference Game 7 clincher in enemy territory. He and the Devils did it against Philadelphia in 2000, and after digging themselves a 3-1 hole in that series and coming back to win, Brodeur won another Game 7 against Ottawa in 2003.

He has channeled enough of his quintessential self already this season and, in fact, backstopped another Game 7 road win in the first round against Florida, working overtime to do so. But if the Devils can sustain their Game 4 formula and continue to repress the Rangers through Wednesday and Friday, Brodeur may not even need to channel that do-or-die magic through the rest of the round.

Barring a miracle in the other conference, the Eastern champion will face Quick and the Kings for the Cup. And if Quick finds himself engaging Brodeur, to say the least, it will not be remotely the same thing as his previous arm-wrestling matches in these playoffs.

It will not be like dueling with Roberto Luongo, who notoriously crumbles in the NHL postseason, or such relative playoff novices as Cory Schneider, Brian Elliott or Smith.

No. It will be the new kid in the crease versus a future Hall of Famer who has already won three Cups and fell one win shy of another in 2001.

That year, Brodeur’s Devils tripped and relinquished their title against a Colorado Avalanche team that had the advantage of motivation to win a title for the 40-year-old, still pretty capable, but soon-to-retire Ray Bourque.

Perhaps now, 11 years later, it is Brodeur’s turn to take a twirl in Bourque’s skates, although the sentimental value is more on a par with Mark Recchi. Regardless, he is doing his part well enough.