NHL STANLEY CUP FINALS: MIGHTY DUCKS v DEVILS

June 2, 2003

Martin Brodeur

MARTY BRODEUR: Definitely. I think they feel pretty good about themselves. We just blew a 2-0 lead. We'll regroup. I think these two days will be to our benefit to relax, and we're not really used to that travel. We've got to get back to the East Coast and rest and get ready. We feel pretty good about the way we have been playing on our home ice. We were one bounce away in two games in a row to really push that series. You've got to give them credit. They stuck around and they feel pretty good about themselves in overtime.

MARTY BRODEUR: No, they're a mirror image of us a lot. They play the same way. They don't give you much. They take whatever you give them, and they have a few skilled players. They only scored that one goal. It's usually not going to beat you, but tonight was enough for them.

MARTY BRODEUR: Like I'm just trying to stay in my net as much as I can. It's such a bad rink for bad bounces with the ice and the boards and the glass. You figure when it's going to go around the board, it's going to stay on the board, but I was in good position, but I waited for the puck to come to me. When I went to grab it, it bounced on me, hit the top of my glove, went back, and I was in control.

MARTY BRODEUR: It's important. That's the reason why we wanted to win these first two games. We wanted to guarantee ourself home ice for the rest of the playoffs, unless we lose it in Game 5. It's really important for us to have that confidence. We're going to be hard to beat in our building. They came in, they didn't play really well. I'm sure it's in their mind because of the way they played in our building the first two games. Hopefully we'll get the first goal.

MARTY BRODEUR: I don't know. The game happens -- the shots are coming in in different ways. They made some good shots. He had nowhere to go. He had to try to sneak it through my arm when I laid down. He hit the outside of the post.

MARTY BRODEUR: We kind of pressed a little bit. We threw the puck back in the middle. They came back on the 3-on-2. Thomas made a great pass to I don't know who that was. It hit his stick, and it gave me an opportunity to get to the puck, and I was able to make a save. When I tried to recover, it was kind of chaos in front of me. I didn't see the puck go through my defensemen, and it went in.

MARTY BRODEUR: It was a challenge today, and we didn't respond. Hopefully, we'll respond better. I thought we played an awesome game. When you get into these defensive battles, and it's hard to score out there, and when you're on the visitors' side of the ice, it's always a little hard to play these games. We paid in these two games the price.

MARTY BRODEUR: I don't know. It's just the way it happens. There is no -- you can't think about it too much. Just go out there and try to win games. When it's one bounce away, it's one bounce away. Some of us are really lucky in overtime, and some of us are not as lucky. You can't really control your destiny too much. You just try to stop the puck, and that's what I have been doing through all my career, and it doesn't happen. It's just the way this series so far has been going, but we'll be better.

MARTY BRODEUR: I don't know if he was that big of a difference. We didn't give him a hard time seeing the puck like we can in New Jersey. He's definitely an excellent goalie. That's what he's been throughout. I think he's not a liability in the net for them.

MARTY BRODEUR: I don't really look at who's going at me all the time when they shoot. I don't even know that play.

MARTY BRODEUR: No, it went wide.

MARTY BRODEUR: Well, I think the dump-in off the board was a pretty good save. Given the opportunity, when my defensemen or somebody touched the puck and slowed it down, I think it was Pahlsson, I'm not sure who shot that puck, but it gave me an opportunity to get there. When I got there, it made that kick save, and after that, there was chaos and we kind of fooled ourselves a little bit. Everybody is trying to do everybody's job.

MARTY BRODEUR: I didn't see him. I saw him got the puck. I was kind of right behind my defensemen. When he shot, I kind of went down and it went through me.