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Elias notches hat trick, Devils top Flyers

Apr 2, 2011 - 3:53 AM Newark, NJ (Sports Network) - Patrik Elias notched his eighth career hat trick to lead New Jersey over Philadelphia, 4-2, at Prudential Center.

Nick Palmieri also tallied and Brian Rolston added three assists for the Devils, who remained in the playoff picture with their second straight win.

Johan Hedberg made 34 stops as New Jersey still hopes to avoid missing out on the postseason for the first time since 1996. Jacques Lemaire's club would have been eliminated from postseason contention with a loss of any kind on Friday.

"We came out to compete," said Hedberg. "We know we're pretty much out of it. We have a lot of pride in this room and a coaching staff that won't let us relax for a second. Everybody in here wants to keep winning."

James van Riemsdyk and Jeff Carter scored for the Flyers, who have dropped five of seven but still remained one point ahead of Washington for top spot in the Eastern Conference and four ahead of Pittsburgh in the Atlantic Division.

Brian Boucher yielded all four goals on 24 shots.

Hedberg stretched out to rob Danny Briere's left-wing chance just over two minutes into the third period, then Carter eventually hit the net with a helper from Zherdev at 4:18 to forge a 2-2 deadlock.

Ilya Kovalchuk then wound his way through the Flyers zone and let a shot go that was tipped in by Palmieri at the side of the crease for a 3-2 Devils' edge at 8:55, and Elias capped his trifecta with 2:46 remaining when review upheld his score that ticked off the back of his skate.

"We keep talking about being the top team in the league but we haven't played that way," Flyers defenseman Kimmo Timonen said. "We want to be the top team in the East, but right now we have to get our game in order. These last four games are huge for us. Going into the playoffs, we have to get our game back on track."

The Flyers got on the board with 9:10 to play in the first, when van Riemsdyk drove the net and tipped in a right-wing shot from Mike Richards.

The Devils equalized at 6:28 of the second period when Elias one-timed a Rolston feed from the high slot, then went up a goal at 8:20 while shorthanded thanks to Elias finishing off another dish from Rolston.

Game Notes

New Jersey won the last two games in the season series to even it 3-3-0...Van Riemsdyk's tally was his 20th on the season, giving the Flyers six players who played with the club from the start of the season with at least 20...Philadelphia hosts the Rangers on Sunday, and the Devils host Montreal on Saturday.