Devils Beat The Flyers, 6-4
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Kurtis Foster scored a pair of power-play goals, and the New Jersey Devils held on for a 6-4 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday afternoon.
Ilya Kovalchuk, Dainius Zubrus, Zach Parise and Alexei Ponikarovsky also had goals for the Devils, who have won three in a row. New Jersey's special teams scored three times on the power play and once short-handed.
Down 6-0 to start the third period, the Flyers stormed back to make it close. Wayne Simmonds, Jaromir Jagr, Claude Giroux and Jake Voracek had Philadelphia's goals.
The Flyers were 14 for 14 on the penalty kill against the Devils in the first three meetings this season. The road team has won each of the four games between the teams.
Sergei Bobrovsky allowed a career-worst six goals on 23 shots before getting replaced by Ilya Bryzgalov in the second period.
The Devils scored four goals in a span of 2:34 from the end of the first into the second to take a 5-0 lead.
Coming off an impressive 4-1 win that snapped Nashville's five-game winning streak, the Flyers were looking to move ahead of the Eastern Conference-leading New York Rangers with a pair of wins this weekend. They'll look to rebound against the Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Sunday.
The injury-depleted Devils improved to 7-3-1 in their last 11 games, but they almost let this one slip away.
After Kovalchuk flattened rookie Brayden Schenn in a rare fight for the Devils' three-time All-Star, the knockout seemed to fire up the Flyers instead.
Giroux and Voracek scored 51 seconds apart to cut the deficit to 6-4. But the Devils shut Philadelphia down over the last 6:29.
Foster scored on a one-timer during a two-man advantage to get the scoring barrage started.
New Jersey's special teams then took control of the game late in the period when Kovalchuk scored a short-handed goal. Zubrus set it up by stealing the puck from Giroux in the Devils' zone and starting a two-on-one break. Kovalchuk fired a wrister past Bobrovsky for a 2-0 lead with 57 seconds left in the period.
Flyers coach Peter Laviolette was irate that a penalty wasn't called on Zubrus for tripping Giroux. He screamed at a referee from the bench.
His frustration was reflected in the chippy play of his players. But the Devils took advantage as Zubrus lifted a backhander past Bobrovsky with :03 left in the period to give New Jersey a commanding 3-0 lead.
The Devils opened the second period on the power play as Scott Hartnell was called for high-sticking at the end of the first. Parise knocked in his own rebound on the man-advantage to make it 4-0.
Ponikarovsky tipped in a behind-the-net pass from Steve Bernier for a 5-0 lead less than a minute later. Foster sent Bobrovsky to the bench after scoring on a slap shot midway through the second.
Simmonds started Philadelphia's comeback bid with his 16th goal. Jagr then scored his first goal since Dec. 29 to cut it to 6-2.
Notes: The Devils were missing defensemen Henrik Tallinder (leg) and Adam Larsson (back) and centers Travis Zajac (Achilles), Ryan Carter (hand) and Adam Henrique (groin). .. The Flyers again were without Danny Briere and James van Riemsdyk. Both have been sidelined with concussions. ... Patrik Elias has 32 goals and 41 assists in 74 regular-season games against Philadelphia. ... The Devils lead the NHL with 12 short-handed goals, including three from Kovalchuk. ... Hedberg has started in place of Martin Brodeur the last five times the Devils have played in Philadelphia. He's 9-10-1 vs. the Flyers. ... Brodeur started New Jersey's previous seven games. ... Simmonds tied a career-high with his 16th goal. He had 16 for the Los Angeles Kings in 2009-10.
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