OTTAWA (CP) - There's no denying that Ray Emery walks to the beat of his own drum, and after Monday's stellar performance, his beat got a lot louder.
Emery was instrumental in the Ottawa Senators 2-0 win over the New Jersey Devils to take a 2-1 series lead in the Eastern Conference semifinal.
The Sens goaltender stopped 25 shots to pick up his second career playoff shutout.
Emery, who says he greatly respects New Jersey's Martin Brodeur, admitted there was a bit of an extra special feeling picking up the shutout against a future Hall of Famer. Not to mention, great relief once his teammates were able to beat Brodeur.
''I'm not going to lie and say I wasn't relieved when it was over,'' said Emery. ''It was fun going back and forth and battling. That's what's great about playoff hockey.''
In many ways, Emery is the type of goaltender the Senators have been searching for.
Ottawa has a history of goaltenders prone to mental mistakes and the inablitiy to make the crucial big saves. Emery doesn't seem to have any trouble handling the pressure.
''He's got a bit of a swagger,'' said Ottawa's Wade Redden. ''He gets ready in his own way and when he shows up you know he's ready to compete. He believes he can win every game and he's got the attitude and work ethic to go along with it.''
The Senators controlled much of the play and Emery was able to watch his teammates get a number of good chances. And like the 19,636 on hand at Scotiabank Place, he was getting a little anxious at their inability to score.
''Sometimes it gets frustrating. You just want a bounce or something,'' said Emery. ''You want one to go off a foot or something, but it's that much more satisfying when you do see one go in.''
Much of the talk in this series has been about Brodeur and his playoff success, but so far Emery has been matching him save for save.
''He's playing great,'' said New Jersey's Scott Gomez. ''He was awesome (Monday). We faced him enough in the regular season that this isn't a surprise to us. He's been great for them, but he's not getting in our heads.''