BOSTON — Martin Brodeur says he doesn’t daydream ahead, about how big a deal it would be if the Devils set the NHL record and make the playoffs from 27 points out.
The NHL’s all-time goalie says he thinks about December and November, instead.
“That’s the question we have. What if we’d played like this a month earlier?” Brodeur said.
Brodeur said he wasn’t wondering how they’d be if Lou Lamoriello had replaced John MacLean with Jacques Lemaire a month earlier, but where they’d be if they were performing the way they have in their 24-5-2 second half.
That the Devils still have hope is a miracle in itself, one they kept alive by snapping a near-fatal two-game losing streak with a 3-0 triumph in Columbus on Sunday. They visit the Northeast-leading Bruins here Tuesday owning 72 points with 10 games left, seven points behind the eight-place Sabres.
The Devils visit Pittsburgh on Friday and have their showdown in Buffalo on Saturday, and hope it still matters.
The Devils own the toughest remaining schedule, aside from the Islanders, in the East, their foes combining for a .584 point percentage.
Buffalo, at Montreal on Tuesday, faces foes combining at .563. Atlanta’s are .580, Toronto’s .552, Carolina’s .570 and the Rangers’, .537. The Islanders, at 68 points, face .589 opponents.
“Are the teams good? Heck, yes. But it doesn’t matter who you play right now. You just have to win,” Brian Rolston said.
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The Devils had a laugh after playing along Sunday with Jacques Lemaire’s claim that Rolston delivered a Winston Churchill speech to help inspire their victory in Columbus.
“What was that?” Rolston asked across the room. “Where did that come from?”
Brodeur said he went along with the story.
“He never said a word. We never had a meeting,” Brodeur said. “I played along and said he did it because he is the second-oldest guy — to me — on the team.”