Tonight will be Martin Brodeur's ninth Game 7 — he's 5-3 — but none of the previous series have felt like this one.
The teams have alternated wins, which bodes well for the Devils tonight but goes against what Brodeur, has seen in his 175 previous postseason appearances.
Everyone talked coming into the series about how closely matched these two teams were, and how well they knew each other — this will be the 10th meeting between the teams in the past six weeks — but the margins have been even smaller than anyone could have expected.
"Usually, you feed off momentum," Brodeur said. "Any team didn't feed off the good games or big wins. You win one, you lose one. It's weird. You don't see that too offen in a playoff series. These are definitely two teams that look in the mirror a lot."
Luke has worked for The N&O since 2000. He covered the Carolina Hurricanes and the NHL before becoming a sports columnist in August 2008. A native of Evanston, Ill., he graduated from the University of Pennsylvania. He can be reached at (919) 829-8947, @LukeDeCock on Twitter or 
