If nothing else, the New Jersey Devils and Martin Brodeur deserve credit for never giving up.
When the Los Angeles Kings took a 3-0 series lead, the Devils were faced with a daunting task. The last team -- the only team -- to ever overcome such a deficit in the Stanley Cup finals were the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs.
However, rather than let the weight of the situation get him down, Brodeur just kept working, and two games later, the possibility of a comeback is looking a little less overwhelming.
“We could have packed it in two games ago,” Brodeur said. “But you see we have a bunch of resilient guys that want to try to make history and try to win the Stanley Cup.”
For all his accomplishments, Brodeur is now 40 years old and it looked like the Los Angeles Kings had the edge in goaltending going into this series. However, as good as Jonathan Quick has been, he shouldn’t overshadow Brodeur’s accomplishments against the Kings.
Brodeur has been great between the pipes and, as Devils coach Pete DeBoer recently said, the team feeds off his composure.
No matter what happens in Game 6 on Monday, the 2012 Stanley Cup finals have only served to reinforce Brodeur’s status as a living legend.