Martin Brodeur shows he can still play and take a punch

Martin Brodeur was in his goal crease Monday "minding my own business" when the Rangers' Mike Rupp abruptly landed a left to his upper chest, sending both him and the Eastern Conference finals reeling in a new direction.

For the Devils, it was part of a satisfying night on which they evened the series and relished frustrating the Rangers.

For Brodeur, it was a jolt that put him back in the spotlight and reminded fans that Henrik Lundqvist is not the only premier goaltender in this series.

It also helped that Brodeur outplayed Lundqvist in the 4-1 victory in Game 4, serving notice that the goalie with the best body of career work still can match up against the goalie widely acknowledged as the best of the moment.

That is no small feat for Brodeur, a certain future Hall of Famer and three-time Stanley Cup winner who has been asked repeatedly during the series to comment on how good his counterpart is -- and repeatedly has done so.

It began May 13, the day before the conference finals began. "He's unbelievable," Brodeur said. "He is lately. He's kind of the top goalie in the NHL right now . . . I'll do my best to try to match up, but it's going to be pretty hard."

And it continued from there, as Lundqvist shut out the Devils twice in the first three games.

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Friday: "I think he deserves the accolades he's getting. He's the key to their success."

Saturday: "He's played well. You can't take that away from him."

Sunday: "What can you say? He's been good . . . That's not surprising anybody."

As good as Lundqvist has been, we now are four games in and Brodeur has allowed seven goals, Lundqvist six.

Rangers fans at the Rock on Saturday derisively chanted "Mar-ty, Mar-ty" late in their team's 3-0 victory. Devils fans returned the favor Monday, chanting Lundqvist's first name and later, "Mar-ty's better, Mar-ty's better."

Most around the NHL would disagree. But even at 40, Brodeur remains effective. He also seems to be having fun, especially in a postgame news conference Monday.

"I'm a tough guy," Brodeur said with a smirk when asked how he emerged from the shot by Rupp, a former teammate. "It kind of stung me a little bit. I kind of didn't know what to do, really . . . But now I know I can take a punch."

On a conference call with reporters Tuesday, Brodeur was asked if there were any lingering effects, about 14 hours later. "No, everything's OK," he said. "Thanks for your concern."

Like his coach and teammates, Brodeur mostly shrugged off the incident and said he doubted it would carry over into Game 5. "It's all forgotten," he said. "It's the playoffs."