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Lukowich's OT goal keeps Devils perfect vs. Flyers

Feb 2, 2007 - 6:17 AM PHILADELPHIA (Ticker) -- Behind their captain and a rookie defenseman, the Philadelphia Flyers appeared on the verge of ending their franchise-record home losing streak. However, the New Jersey Devils relied on Zach Parise and blue-liner Brad Lukowich to display their flair for the dramatic.

Parise forged a tie with 32 seconds remaining in the third period and Lukowich tallied at 4:10 of overtime, giving the Devils a wild 6-5 victory over the Flyers, who have lost 12 in a row at home.

Peter Forsberg, who has battled a foot injury all season and been the subject of recent trade rumors, recorded a pair of assists before scoring with 4:10 to go in the third to give the Flyers a 5-4 lead. A third-round pick in 2003, Alexandre Picard set up each of Philadelphia's goals, falling one assist shy of the franchise record of six set by Eric Lindros on February 26, 1997.

"Whenever you get a five-point night, it's pretty amazing," Picard said. "It would have been better in a winning situation. ... I had five points, but if you look at the plays, I really didn't have anything to do with the goals. Peter fed me twice. All he had to do was pass it to me and all I did was shoot it. It's a great play by him. People don't realize that when you put pucks at the net, good things happen."

But New Jersey, which had won each of the previous four meetings between the Atlantic Division rivals this season, would not be denied. Parise, who scored the deciding goal in a shootout victory over the Flyers on December 2, knotted the contest at 5-5 with his 19th tally of the campaign.

"They had a couple of chances to clear the puck and we kept it in," Parise said. "Jamie (Langenbrunner) made a real good pass from behind the net. I knew that (goaltender Antero Niittymaki) was going to be on the right side, so I tried to put the shot on the left side. It went off the post and it went in."

Lukowich, who scored his first goal of the season while shorthanded late in the third period to force overtime on December 2, came up big again in this one. Standing at the left side of the net, the veteran deflected fellow defenseman Brian Rafalski's one-timer past Niittymaki for his third tally overall and second game-winner in 2006-07.

"It was a line change and I was about to come off when I saw them bobble the puck," Lukowich said. "I just kept going. There was a big, gaping hole in front of the net and I figured that I'd go there. Raffi made the perfect shot and I just tried to get the stick on it, and it went in."

"The same thing happened the last time we played them in New Jersey," Niittymaki said. "It's pretty frustrating. ... When you score five goals against (Martin) Brodeur, you should win every time."

Rookie Travis Zajac recorded his first career two-goal performance, captain Patrik Elias had a goal and two assists and Langenbrunner netted a tally and set up another for the Devils, who have earned at least one point in eight of their last nine games (6-1-2).

"It was nice to get scoring from everyone and it was nice for me to get out of that slump that I've been in," said Zajac, who ended a 15-game goalless drought. "I got a couple of garbage goals, and it was a nice way to finish off a win."

Mike Knuble scored twice and added an assist for Philadelphia, which has dropped 11 of 12 overall.

"We can't buy a win at home," Forsberg said. "It's frustrating because we played so well. It was just a brutal goal in the end again. It's hard losing this way."

"When you score five goals on Martin Brodeur, you should win the hockey game," Flyers coach John Stevens said. "They had a guy in front of our goalie that got his stick on the puck. It's a game we should have won."

Ben Eager and Zajac traded first-period goals before Knuble put the Flyers ahead with a power-play tally at 2:19 of the second, knocking a rebound past All-Star netminder Brodeur from the left side of the net.

Zajac again evened it during a 5-on-3 advantage six minutes later, and Elias gave the Devils their first lead with 8:08 to go in the middle session, backhanding his own rebound by Niittymaki from the right side of the crease.

Dmitry Afanasenkov beat Brodeur on a second chance at 2:52 of the third, knotting the contest at 3-3, and Knuble put Philadelphia back in front with another power-play tally at 11:16. But Langenbrunner netted his fourth goal against the Flyers this season 40 seconds later.

"It was back and forth, and for us, that's not something that we do very often," Lukowich said. "To be in this kind of a shootout is away from our game. We're happy with the win, but we have to buckle down defensively."

"We've got to start to play a little better," added Brodeur, who made 31 saves. "We can't bank on winning like that all the time. We have to pick it up a little bit."