Thursday, April 10, 2008

Brodeur Gaffe Leads the Way for Rangers

Today's newspapers focus on Martin Brodeur's mental error that lead to the Ryan Callahan's go-ahead goal...

At the NYT Lynn Zinser writes..."The puck was sitting in front of him in the crease, the moment stretching inordinately long for Devils goaltender Martin Brodeur. He had made a routine save on Rangers forward Ryan Callahan, but he seemed to freeze and did not cover the rebound. No teammate skated to get it. Brodeur never saw Callahan racing behind the net, never heard him until Callahan swept the loose puck past him."

Marc Everson at The New York Post says..."While the pop-gun Devils offense - held to one goal or less in regulation 31 of 82 times this season - helped Henrik Lundqvist, Brodeur is not supposed to come out second best. With the score tied 1-1 in the third, his gaffe was the first turning point of this series."

John Dellapina at The Daily News notes..."Almost any other goaltender on the planet would have pounced on the puck or swatted it to safety. But no other goaltender can stickhandle like Martin Brodeur. For one of the few times in the 14 years he's been staring them down from the Devils' net, the Rangers were glad that was so."

At Newsday, Steve Zipay reports..."Martin Brodeur flinched. Ryan Callahan pounced.With the score tied and the Rangers killing a penalty midway through the third period, the normally unflappable Devils goaltender made a rookie mistake."

...Ranger fans can only hope that Brodeur's mistake will effect him mentally for the rest of the series. In my opinion, he's too good of a goalie to let that happen. I expect an even more determined Brodeur on Friday.

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