Those were the words spoken by Martin Brodeur after the Devils’ second loss in a row to the Rangers in their first round playoff series. That mantra is a unique way of saying, “it happened, it’s in the past, there’s nothing anyone can do about it but move on.”

The atmosphere in the Devils’ locker room after two losses is not one of defeat, but a focus to remain positive. “It takes four games to win a series,” Coach Brent Sutter told reporters after the loss. “They only have two games.”

“We struggled a bit,” said Captain Jamie Langenbrunner. “Giving away the first two games is frustrating. It’s not our best efforts by any means.”

A lot can happen overnight. In 2000, the Devils were behind 3-1 in the series against the Philadelphia Flyers only to come back and win the series and then the Stanley Cup. And even though they've dropped the first two games, the team plans on remaining positive as if they were digesting the lesson from the pages out of “The Secret."

“Believe that good things happen, they will,” Patrik Elias said. “You got to stay with it.”

Going into Game 2, I was concerned about the level of energy between both the Rangers and the Devils. On Wednesday night, it just did not feel like the playoffs. The excitement and the drive were not in Game 1.

After Game 2, I can’t say that anymore. After seeing Brendan Shanahan’s second penalty of the game, I could only say, “Shanny is on fire tonight.” I’m not talking about Shanahan being a part of the two goals in Game Two. I’m talking about Shanahan realizing that this was the playoffs and that he was not going to allow the Devils to have their way with his smaller teammates. The “Shanny of Old” emerged in Game 2. In his two years as a New York Ranger, this was the first time he has been this fired up.

With a Stanley Cup on the line, he was not going to tolerate the Devils targeting Scott Gomez. Everyone from Colin White to Langenbrunner had been getting under the former Devil’s skin. And it was blatantly apparent that they were doing this on purpose and singling him out.

Shanahan was called in the second period, not only on a roughing penalty for sticking up for his teammates in an altercation with White and Langenbrunner, but he was also assessed an unsportsmanlike conduct almost six minutes later in an altercation with Dainius Zubrus and David Clarkson. But he wasn’t alone, he had Gomez and Brandon Dubinsky alongside of him in their own bouts. Both the Devils and the Rangers spent twenty minutes combined in the penalty box during the second period for roughing and unsportsmanlike conduct. The heat was so intense, it’s surprising the ice didn’t melt.

After going scoreless in the first two periods, the Rangers notched two goals within twenty-three seconds of each other in the final period. The first goal came from Jaromir Jagr at 4:26, with Sean Avery following up with the second at 4:49. The Devils lone goal came with just 1:23 left in the game from John Madden, who had not known at the time that the goal belonged to him until they announced it.

Compounding the Devils' frustration was a botched icing call at the end. Shorthanded with Langenbrunner in the penalty box for hooking, it shouldn't have been possible for the Devils to ice the puck. But the officials ignored the fact that they were shorthanded and blew the whistle for icing, then moved the puck to center ice, instead of back into the offensive zone, for a faceoff.

“It’s like saying they’re half right,” said Sutter. Bringing the puck to center ice reduced the Devils' chances for coming back and tying up the game in the final seconds.

Going into Game 3 “We find out what we’re made of,” John Madden said. “Especially after losing two in your own building.” Madden was the last Devil to tally a hat trick in the playoffs; it came against Kevin Weekes on April 24, 2006, during a 3-0 shutout win over the New York Rangers (Weekes is currently a NJ Devil.)

The series now moves to Madison Square Garden for Game Three on Sunday night, and there's little doubt that the Devils can turn things around. In the past, it seems that they profit off of those unlucky superstitions (like winning their first Stanley Cup when the franchise turned thirteen) and defying the odds. They are Devils, after all.

Devils Notes

Zach Parise was sent to the dentist after a high stick to the face from Christian Backman (that earned Backman a double-minor) during the second period.