NEWARK, N.J. – Don’t write Martin Brodeur off after one bad playoff game.

The 39-year-old bounced back from his shortest postseason performance with a record-setting 24th Stanley Cup playoff shutout, leading the New Jersey Devils to a 4-0 victory over the Florida Panthers Thursday night, tying their first-round series at 2-all.

“He was on top of his game,” Devils captain Zach Parise said. “You could tell. He was seeing the puck really well. He made the big saves early. I think we all knew he would have a great game but when you see the first couple of saves, we have all the confidence in the world.”

Brodeur finished with 26 saves in taking over sole possession of the postseason shutout mark from Patrick Roy, and at least a half-dozen were outstanding stops. The effort came just two days after the 18-year veteran and three-time Cup winner blew a 3-0 lead and was lifted by Coach Peter DeBoer after just 22:18 in Game 3, a contest Florida rallied to win, 4-3.

“It was disappointing to let go of a 3-0 lead,” said Brodeur, who also picked up his second assist in the series. “I think you have to take everything in stride. It’s hard. I’m not Superman. You get affected by certain things that happen to you.

“I just wanted to make sure I focused well.”

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Parise, Steve Bernier, Travis Zajac and Ilya Kovalchuk scored for New Jersey, which will head back to Florida for Game 5 on Saturday.

“We’re going home with two out of three at home,” Panthers center Stephen Weiss said. “So we’re in good shape.”

The problem for the Panthers was Brodeur.

“We knew he was going to be ready to go tonight,” Weiss said. “He made some good saves when he had to, so did our goalie. We have to find some way to get some past him.

Brodeur also was a little lucky in winning his 101st career postseason game, with an early shot by Sean Bergenheim hitting a goalpost.

“It’s a big win for us,” Brodeur said. “Down 3-1 is a big hole to get out of. Being tied is a relief. Hopefully we’ll take the momentum of how we dominated in certain areas of the game and put it in their building.”

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COYOTES 3, BLACK-HAWKS 2: In Chicago, Mikkel Boedker scored in overtime for the second straight game and the Coyotes took a 3-1 lead in the first-round series.

Boedker skated ahead of defenseman Nick Leddy and shoveled the puck under goalie Corey Crawford at 2:15 in the fourth straight game that has gone to an extra period.

Michael Frolik’s tap-in from the left side with 1:26 left in regulation tied it and marked the third time in four games the Blackhawks rallied to force overtime after pulling Crawford for an extra attacker.

Shane Doan and Taylor Pyatt scored 44 seconds apart to give the Coyotes a 2-0 lead in the third. Brendan Morrison, making his first appearance in the series, scored to make it 2-1.

The NHL fined Chicago Coach Joel Quenneville $10,000 for criticizing officials following the Blackhawks’ overtime loss to the Coyotes on Tuesday.

Quenneville criticized officials for failing to call a penalty on Raffi Torres after the Phoenix forward left his feet and hit Marian Hossa in the neck and head area in Game 3.

Hossa was carried off the ice on a stretcher and is out indefinitely. The NHL suspended Torres indefinitely Wednesday for the hit.


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