David Clarkson saw Martin Brodeur lying on the ice with a little more than four minutes left in the third period of Pittsburgh’s 5-2 victory against New Jersey. Thinking Evgeni Malkin was responsible, Clarkson defended his goaltender, even though it meant taking a pair of two-minute minors for unsportsmanlike conduct and roughing in addition to a 10-minute misconduct. As it turns out, Clarkson might have gotten fired up over a misunderstanding.
“Marty kind of held onto it a little bit longer, I tried to cut inside and got in his way,” New Jersey’s Bryce Salvador said. “There was no room. I know I got a piece of Marty. I think it was me (not Malkin). At the end of the day I shouldn’t be there.”
It was all-in-all a bad afternoon for Brodeur. He took a shot to the face earlier in the game which broke his retro mask, to say nothing of the fact that he allowed five goals on a staggering 44 shots.