Although the Devils have certainly been one of the NHL’s finest franchises during the past decadeplus, they haven’t ever been considered a particularly dominant team. Instead, they’ve focused on the details and won on the margins, one- and two-goal victories their proven recipe for success.

And of course, the one constant for the Devils during their exceptional run has been goaltender Martin Brodeur. Yesterday, he was named a finalist for both the Hart Trophy (league MVP) and the Vezina Trophy (top goaltender), in recognition of what may well have been the best statistical season of his career. He set personal highs for wins (48) and shutouts (12), while posting his second best ever save percentage (.922).

Making Brodeur’s feats even more impressive is that he accomplished them in the post-lockout, offense-first NHL … and while playing behind a blue line corps conspicuously devoid of names like Stevens, Niedermayer, and Daneyko. Put simply, Brodeur has further cemented his legacy as a future Hall of Famer, and it shouldn’t shock anyone if the Devils’ superstar netminder won both the Hart and the Vezina.

However, regular season successes have never been Brodeur’s — or the Devils’ — top priority. Without question, their finest statistical performance came in 2000–01, when they scored more goals (295) than any NHL club did between 1996 and 1997 and 2003 and 2004. That Devils team finished with a plus-100 goal-differential, also a single-season best during that time period. Yet because that team fell in the Stanley Cup Finals to the Colorado Avalanche, the regular season successes were tempered by a sense of failure. Lou Lamoriello’s team — much like the Yankees — measures its success during the postseason.

But a fair argument can be made that today’s Devils team — its roster depleted by retirements, the salary cap, and free agent departures — lacks the requisite ingredients for postseason glory. The Devils lean on Brodeur more heavily than they have at any time since he became their full-time starter during the 1994 playoffs and, as a result, when he’s anything short of perfect, their chances of winning slip dramatically.

On Monday night in Ottawa, Brodeur was absolutely sensational, stopping 32 of 33 shots fired upon him by an extremely deep and talented Ottawa Senators team. But the one goal he allowed, which came mere moments after Ottawa forward Mike Fisher knocked him off balance, turned out to be the only one the Sens needed.

Much has been made during these playoffs of Brodeur’s substandard performance, but his struggles have been much more a factor of his team’s indecisive play than any diminishment of his ability to stop the puck. In reality, Brodeur has posted very solid numbers this postseason (2.31 goals-against average, .919 save percentage), with many of the goals-against coming when Devils skaters have been uncharacteristically out of position.

But while the defense is surely not up to the standards set while Scott Stevens was patrolling the Devils’ blue line, it’s actually the forwards — and in particular, the checking line — that has been the biggest disappointment against Ottawa. The Sens’ top line — Dany Heatley (five points, plus-4), Daniel Alfredsson (two points, plus-5), and Jason Spezza (five points, plus-4) — has had a surprisingly easy time of things through the first three games, and that must change quickly if the Devils are going to bounce back in the series.

Yesterday, the NHL announced that checking line winger Jay Pandolfo is a finalist for the Selke Trophy (the NHL’s top defensive forward), in recognition of his ability to neutralize the opposition’s top offensive players. But so far in these playoffs, the checking line trio of John Madden, Jay Pandolfo, and Sergei Brylin has posted a combined minus-20 rating, while contributing only three points (two goals and an assist).

Needless to say, Pandolfo (minus-7, zero points) and his linemates will need to do a far better job, beginning tonight in Ottawa.

It’s no stretch whatsoever to categorize Game 4 as a “must-win” situation for the Devils. WhoWins.commeasures the results of playoff series across all four major sports, breaking down the likelihood of victory in virtually every circumstance. In NHL history, 214 series have started with one team taking a 3–1 lead; only 20 times has a team come from behind to win.

It is worth noting that Brodeur and the Devils did mount one of those improbable comebacks, against the Philadelphia Flyers in the 2000 Eastern Conference Finals, and they went on to win the Cup that year. But the differences between this year’s Devils and that edition outweigh the similarities, and though Brodeur remains, Monday night’s loss was a firm indication that he just might not be enough.

Mr. Greenstein is the editor in chief of InsideHockey.com.