Devils goalie Martin Brodeur has snatched another record from Patrick Roy.

In defeating the Florida Panthers, 4-0, Thursday night at the Prudential Center, Brodeur broke Roy's Stanley Cup record with his 24th career shutout.

"I've played a lot of games," Brodeur noted. "When you win games, especially in the playoffs, they're tight games. Sometimes you need shutouts to win some of these games. Again, really fortunate to play on great teams and sacrifice themselves for shutouts, to commit themselves to play well defensively."



The goalie spoke of the second straight home sellout crowd of 17,625.



"It was fun," Brodeur said. "Our fans have been unbelievable, especially the last two games. The building is packed, it's playoff hockey and there are no other teams that can root for but us. So it's kind of nice," he said, referring to home games against the Rangers. "But you have to give them candy if they're going to be that loud."

The victory meant more than just another record for Brodeur. It got the Devils even, 2-2, in the best-of-seven series.

“It felt good to play well, get a win and get back in the series,” Brodeur said. “Game 3 was disappointing but I thought we showed a lot of character in the way we played and how patient we were early in the game not to try to take them out of the game early. We just plugged away.”

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Right winger David Clarkson took exception to a hit from Florida's Erik Gudbranson as they went into the right corner with 30 seconds remaining.

Clarkson got up and attempted to fight the defenseman, who wouldn't drop his gloves.

"I didn't expect him to hit me because I kind of had my back turned into the wall," Clarkson said. "I got kicked out right after that, but I'm okay. I'm fine.

"I don't want to say (Gudbranson) didn't want to go, but when he hit me I went (after him). Unfortunately I think the ref got cut in the midst of that."

The series has taken a nasty turn.

"I think when we got up they started getting a bit chippy and we're not going to back down from that," Clarkson said. "You don't want to play dirty but that whack on Zach (Parise) at the end, we're going to finish their guys."

What does coach Pete DeBoer expect in Game 4?

"I would assume more of the same. You're down to the end here," he said. "It's two out of three. Emotions are high."

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The Devils are expecting the Panthers to come out strong at home.

"This one is over," defenseman Bryce Salvador said. "We know we're going to get a different team in Florida. By no means are we resting on this."

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Zach Parise played a physical game, but was surprised when he was told he had four hits in the first period and five for the game.

"Was my dad keeping track of the stats?" Parise asked with a smile. "I felt into the game. I felt good."

Parise's mom and dad attended the game.

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Defense partners Anton Volchenkov and Peter Harrold were both plus-2. That was best in the game.