Devils erupt in 4-1 win over Flyers, tie series

May 2, 2012 RSS Feed Print

The Flyers entered with an NHL postseason-high 34 goals, but failed to generate much offense after the first 10 minutes.

Read scored from a tough angle outside the circle to beat Brodeur for the fast 1-0 lead. But it didn't hold up.

Not even Giroux and Danny Briere could spark the Flyers. Each tick of the clock in the second period was like watching a no-hitter to see if the Flyers would finally put the puck on Brodeur. With 1:27 left in the period, the Flyers broke through for a shot and they only took one more.

Brodeur, who had 19 saves, joked he needed an "old man's chair" to sit and rest.

"I got lonely a little bit," he said.

The Devils outshot them 12-2 in the second, in fact. And to make matters worse, the Flyers opened and closed the period on the power play.

"It is all about the will and desperation. We have to get that back," Briere said. "So far in this series we have only had it for about three periods. There is no sense in me telling you how good we are. One thing I can tell you is that we need to have more desperation if we want to get back to winning games."

The road win was New Jersey's third of the postseason.

"We knew, if we lost tonight, it wasn't going to look good for us," DeBoer said. "I'm not surprised to see us play the way we did."

Though clearly they missed Kovalchuk for long stretches. In his third season with the Devils, Kovalchuk has three goals in eight playoff games and remains day to day. He walked with a pad on his back after Sunday's 4-3 overtime, Game 1 loss, and walked around the locker room Monday at practice in Newark quite gingerly.

Kovalchuk, a former Atlanta Thrasher who had 37 goals and 83 points this season, won his first playoff series ever in New Jersey's opening round triumph over Florida. The Devils say Kovalchuk was injured in that first-round series.

Defenseman Peter Harrold, who had three points and five shots on goal in the postseason before Game 2, was moved up to a forward position to replace Kovalchuk's spot in Game 2, allowing Larsson to play defense. Harrold had four shots on 12 shifts up front.

I know how the playoffs (are)," Larsson said. "I watched all the games from the stands. I know that everybody steps up a little bit. I knew in my mind, if wanted to stay in the lineup, I had to step it up."

Notes: The Flyers were 0 for 5 on the power play, and are now 1 for 11 on the series. New Jersey had the league's top penalty-killing unit in the regular season. ... New Jersey has now won three of the last four games. ... Clarkson had 30 goals and 46 points in the regular season. ... Brayden Schenn had his fifth assist on Read's goal.