NEWARK, N.J. — The Eastern Conference final between the rival New York Rangers and New Jersey Devils finally got ugly.
Devils goaltender Martin Brodeur was punched in the third period by former teammate Mike Rupp. Coaches Peter DeBoer of New Jersey and John Tortorella of New York screamed at each other after the incident. And the Rangers blew their cool as the Devils rode two goals and an assist by Zach Parise to a 4-1 victory on Monday night that evened the series, 2-2.
“Throughout a seven game series,” Parise said, “both teams are going to get frustrated with things.”
Game 5 is Wednesday at Madison Square Garden. As for Game 3, though, the story was the hit on Brodeur, who made 28 saves en route to his 10th victory of the postseason.
The punch came out of nowhere before the coaches got into it on the benches.
“You don’t like to see that,” DeBoer said of the hit on his goaltender. “He’s a key guy for us. Two teams battling it out. He’s a big boy. He can take care of himself.”
Brodeur was more surprised by the incident than anything else.
“I didn’t expect anything,” the 40-year-old said. “I never got punched like that in my career. First time. It kind of surprised me more than anything, but now I know I can take a punch.”
Tortorella refused to say anything about his shouting match with DeBoer, with whom he has argued several times this season, including Sunday when he complained about the Devils using illegal picks and embellishing penalties.
“This isn’t about John and I,” DeBoer said. “This is about the guys on the ice. So, I don’t have anything to say about that.”
Bryce Salvador and Travis Zajac beat Henrik Lundqvist less than four minutes apart in the first to give the Devils their first two-goal lead in a series. Brodeur notched an assist in the third, on Parise’s empty-netter, while the Rangers took several uncharacteristic penalties and seemed rattled from the start.
And the chippiness increased with each period. New York’s Marc Staal whacked Patrik Elias in the back of the knee with his stick in the second. Ryan Callahan, the Rangers captain, and New Jersey’s Ilya Kovalchuk tussled.
“There are going to be situations out there where we get into each other’s faces,” Callahan said. “That’s playoff hockey.”
A former Devil who scored the Stanley Cup-clinching goal for New Jersey in 2003 vs. Anaheim, Rupp jabbed Brodeur in his crease in the third after a stoppage in play. That almost set off a free-forall among the players on the ice.
As Brodeur walked through the locker room, he was asked if Rupp was his friend.
“That’s what I thought,” he said before heading to the podium for a post game news conference. Meanwhile, Rupp was not available for comment.
The punch came about four minutes after Parise scored on a power play to give New Jersey a 3-0 lead.
Playoff glance
CONFERENCE FINALS (Best-of-7)
SUNDAY’S GAME Phoenix 2, Los Angeles 0
Los Angeles leads series 3-1
MONDAY’S GAME New Jersey 4, NY Rangers 1
Series tied 2-2
TODAY’S GAME All times Central Los Angeles at Phoenix, 8 p.m.
WEDNESDAY’S GAME New Jersey at NY Rangers, 7 p.m.
Sports, Pages 20 on 05/22/2012