Martin Brodeur knows the math is against the Devils making the playoffs this season.

But he also knows this: one year without playoffs isn’t seven.

Just ask the Rangers.

“We don’t like not making the playoffs,” Brodeur told NJ.com on Wednesday. “It hasn’t happened a lot, but (the Rangers) have been through seven years in a row not making the playoffs. We feel fortunate. We had a great run. This has been a difficult season but those guys, seven times in a row. That’s tough. I just can’t imagine that.”

The teams play each other Thursday at Madison Square Garden with the Devils last in the NHL’s Eastern Conference at 35 points, well behind the Rangers at 62.

The Devils have made the playoffs for 13 straight seasons. They are 7-1-1 in their past nine games and sit 20 points out of the final playoff spot.

The Rangers failed to make the playoffs from 1997-2006.

“If you miss it by 20 points or miss it by one point, you don’t have a chance to win the Stanley Cup,” Brodeur told the website. “The first thing is to make it and right now they’re making it.”