Third Period Goals Lift Flyers Past Devils
PHILADELPHIA (AP) Mike Richards scored a tiebreaking goal early in the third period to lead the Philadelphia Flyers to a 5-3 victory over the New Jersey Devils on Saturday.
James Van Riemsdyk, Claude Giroux, Danny Briere, and Jeff Carter also scored for the Flyers, who had gone 0-1-2 in their previous three games. Carter and Matt Carle each added two assists.
Richard, who also had an assist, deflected a slap shot from just inside the blue line by Chris Pronger, giving the Flyers a 3-2 lead at 3:37 of the final period.
Briere scored at 8:07 of the third period, scoring from the crease after taking a backhanded pass from Carter. The Devils pulled to 4-3 when Patrik Elias scored on a power play with a two-man advantage with 44 seconds left. Carter added an empty-net goal with 2 seconds remaining.
Ilya Kovalchuck and Travis Zajac also scored for the Devils, and Jamie Langenbrunner had two assists. New Jersey has lost three of its last four, with the only win during that stretch coming in a 2-1 shootout against the Flyers last Saturday. The Devils have also lost five straight on the road.
Philadelphia goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky, who was named the NHL's Rookie of the Month in November, made 23 saves including a brilliant stop of Kovalchuk's breakaway attempt late in the second period.
Johan Hedberg, appearing in his season-high sixth straight game for the Devils, stopped 29 shots.
Kovalchuk put the Devils ahead on a power play at 3:02 of the first period. His one-timer from just inside the blue line nicked off the skate of Flyers center Blair Betts into the goal.
It was his first goal in his last nine games and only his second goal in his last 17.
Van Reimsdyk tied it 17 seconds later, knocking in a rebound after Richard's shot hit the post.
Zajac gave New Jersey a 2-1 lead at 12:55 of the period with a wrist shot from just inside the faceoff circle. It was his first goal in 11 games.
NOTES: Richards is the Flyers' all-time leading scorer against the Devils with 28 points (7 goals, 21 assists) in 36 career games. ... The Devils were only 1 for 43 on the power play on the road before Kovalchuk's goal. ... Devils D Colin White recorded his 100th career assist on Zajac's goal. ... Philadelphia went 0 for 3 on the power play and is 2 for 41 with the man advantage in its last 10 games.
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