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Flyers finish strong to down Devils

Jan 7, 2011 - 5:40 AM Newark, NJ (Sports Network) - Scott Hartnell notched a pair of goals and Ville Leino added three assists as Philadelphia used a third-period burst to down New Jersey, 4-2, in the opener of a home-and-home series from Prudential Center.

Danny Briere added two goals with Matt Carle chipping in two helpers for the Flyers, who have taken three of four.

Brian Boucher improved to 9-4-2 on the year with an 18-save performance.

"It was kind of an interesting game," said Boucher. "Not much going on and then we catch a big break off the boards to get us going."

Dainius Zubrus and David Clarkson provided the offense for the Devils, who dropped their third straight and ninth in 10 outings. Johan Hedberg allowed all four goals on 20 shots in defeat.

"Any bounce that could not go our way has been happening," Clarkson lamented.

New Jersey lost without the services of its captain, Jamie Langenbrunner, who was a healthy scratch. Multiple reports during the contest indicated that the veteran forward waived his no-trade clause and is awaiting a deal.

Despite misfiring on an early power play, the visitors took a 3-2 advantage at 2:48 of the third period when Briere corralled a bouncing Leino pass and beat Hedberg with a wrister from the slot.

The visitors picked up an insurance tally with 8:26 remaining, when Briere's attempted centering pass for Hartnell on the right wing deflected off the skate of Devils defenseman Colin White and rolled by Hedberg.

New Jersey went with an extra skater for the final 1:14 but failed to make a dent in its deficit.

The Flyers came out strongly from the opening faceoff, but squandered a pair of 2-on-1 chances in the first 90 seconds, with Mike Richards missing high and wide on the first and Briere hitting the crossbar on the second.

After a Philadelphia power play went by the wayside, the Devils notched the game's first goal with 8:23 left in the first when Zubrus tipped in a right- point shot from Anton Volchenkov

Hedberg was quick to use the pokecheck later in the period to stop a James van Riemsdyk rush and it was a one-goal Devils edge at intermission.

Philly finally hit the scoreboard late in the second period thanks to a lucky bounce.

Hedberg left his net in an attempt to track down a dump-in from Leino, but the puck caromed back into the slot for Hartnell, who made no mistake on the backhand with 4:14 left.

"These boards are lively," Hartnell said. "All night you see it was taking weird bounces. I don't know if Ville did it on purpose but it wound up kicking right past Hedberg. I just had to put it in the open net."

Hedberg was also victimized on a bad bounce off the side boards for Clayton Stoner's game-winner during Minnesota's 2-1 victory on Tuesday.

"Second game in a row," Hedberg said. "I've never seen that bounce, ever. From that angle with the puck and the way it came out, with as fast as it came out, I've never seen it. It just keeps happening game after game."

The Devils were the beneficiary of a late review which gave them a 2-1 lead.

Clarkson broke in and lifted a shot that appeared to ring off the crossbar in the center of the net, but the puck returned to play too quickly to draw a whistle. Over a minute later once action was stopped, a review determined the disc struck the back brace of the net and the clock was rewound to 2:20 remaining.

Unbowed, Hartnell charged the crease and redirected a centering feed by Leino for a 2-2 tie with 66 seconds left in the second.

Game Notes

These clubs will square off in Philadelphia on Saturday afternoon...Hartnell notched his second multi-goal game of the season and first since November 1 against Carolina...Briere leads Philly with 20 goals and picked up his first multi-goal effort since December 9 at Toronto...Prior to the game, the Flyers recalled defenseman Danny Syvret from Adirondack of the AHL...The Devils fell to 10-28-2 on the season, their worst record at the 40-game mark since going 8-30-2 in 1983-84...There has been just one Flyers hat trick against the Devils in franchise history, when Rick Tocchet tallied three times in a 7-1 win on November 20, 1988.