Another Brodeur, Another Shutout at the Garden

It took New Jersey netminder Martin Brodeur 16 years to earn a regular season shutout in Madison Square Garden.  Ottawa's Mike Brodeur did it in just his second NHL game.

The Sens goalie—who says he is a distant relative to Marty—stopped 32 shots as Ottawa topped the Rangers 2-0 tonight in New York.  Not bad for a guy who started his day in Binghamton, NY, getting the call-up only after Brian Elliott caught the flu and Pascale Leqaire hurt himself at the morning skate.

"You just come in and you play. The nerves weren't really flying tonight," the 26-year-old backstop said.

"I was real confident. I wasn't nervous today. I got my first in a couple of weeks ago which helped out."

Brodeur was referring to his NHL debut, a 4-1 win over Minnesota on Dec. 19 at Scotiabank Place in which he made 22 stops.  He is now 2-0 with a 0.50 GAA in the 120 minutes he has spent on NHL ice.

Second-year Rangers coach John Tortorella believed his team failed to bring the same focus to tonight's contest that they had in Tuesday night's thriller with New Jersey.

"It's not always going to be a Jersey-Ranger game in Madison Square Garden," he told reporters after the game. "It's a matter of readiness. We have no excuse, no matter who we play, not to be ready to play. We're a .500 club in our building, we're trying to find our way in our own building; we have no excuse not to be ready."