The Devils aren’t underdogs against the Rangers, but Martin Brodeur says his team is not the favorite, either. Not with most fans, or the NHL itself, anyway.
“These guys are definitely a team everyone around here wants to win. We have to overcome that. The league wants them to be there,” Brodeur said of the Rangers, whom he’ll face to open the Stanley Cup playoffs tomorrow at the Meadowlands.
The goalie with three Stanley Cups, two Vezina Trophies, four Jennings Trophies, a Calder Trophy, and an Olympic gold medal is fully aware he and the Devils have lost all three playoff showdowns with the Rangers.
“It’s not in any of my scrapbooks. It’s something I want to do, but it’s not something I would regret all my life,” Brodeur said. “Lou [Lamoriello] makes it a big point, puts an emphasis, to get into this rivalry.”
Brodeur reminisced yesterday of series lost to the Rangers, grimacing at the mention of Stephane Matteau and his double-OT, Game 7 winner in the 1994 Eastern Conference Finals.
“I’m sure I’m still going to hear that guy’s name,” Brodeur said. “Hopefully, that will change this time around.”
Brodeur recalled 1997, the last time the rivals met in the playoffs, the last series the Rangers won from anyone. The Devils had taken the opener and were dominating Game 2 when Mark Messier crosschecked Doug Gilmour into a concussion. The Devils lost that game and the next three, and have had to endure the last remaining taunt of Rangers fans ever since.
“Every single goal we scored, [Wayne] Gretzky asked the referee to review it, check it out upstairs. I don’t remember how many goals were disallowed that year,” Brodeur said.
“It was unbelievable. One of the referees picked up Wayne’s stick on the ice and gave it to him. I said, we’ve gotta get one of these guys.”
The Devils’ franchise netminder will be making his 134th straight playoff start tomorrow. He said his knees, each injured this season, are fully fit, and he won’t need any repair work this summer. He regained his familiar form down the stretch and finished with a league-best 43 victories.
Brodeur stands 84-60 in his 144 playoff appearances (fourth all-time) with 20 shutouts, three behind Patrick Roy’s record of 23. He needs to beat the Rangers to tie Ed Belfour’s 88 for most victories among active players.
The Rangers surely will test him short side, on wraparounds and shots from deep angles. He expects to be busy.
“They’re a more complete team than they were ever,” Brodeur said.
That evaluation bodes ill for his hopes to end the playoff dominance achieved by those other Rangers squads.
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Colin White, who missed eight early-season games with a groin injury, did not skate in practice yesterday after sitting out the season finale in Montreal with a recurrence. He said he hopes to play tomorrow . . . Lamoriello listed Jay Pandolfo’s qualifications to shadow Jaromir Jagr, then asked, “Who’s saying that’s going to happen?” A usual booster of rivalries, Lamoriello seemed to downplay the issue of never having beaten the Rangers. “I don’t look at anything that happened in the past. I wouldn’t be aware of those history situations unless I read them,” he said. “I’m not saying that for any reason except that’s the way I think.”
