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Devils-Flyers Preview

Mar 28, 2010 - 4:13 AM By MATT BEARDMORE STATS Writer

New Jersey (43-25-5) at Philadelphia (37-31-6), 7:00 p.m. EDT

Having clinched their 13th straight playoff berth with a rare road win, the New Jersey Devils will try to end a losing streak at the home of one of their biggest rivals.

The Devils look to snap a three-game skid in Philadelphia on Sunday night when they take on the Flyers, who are aiming to break away from a tie for eighth in the Eastern Conference.

Outscored 13-6 while losing their previous four road games, the Devils (44-25-5) posted a 4-2 win in Montreal on Saturday night. That ensured a return to the postseason for New Jersey, winners of three Stanley Cups since 1995.

"I've been here for all 13 of them and I've seen a lot of guys come and go, but the attitude is the same," Martin Brodeur said after making 25 saves for his NHL-leading 41st victory. "It starts from our boss upstairs with (general manager) Lou (Lamoriello) and it goes and trickles down to the guy that plays the least amount of minutes.

"We've always had that attitude that the first step is making the playoffs and after that, well, we try to go for bigger things."

The Devils are tied with Pittsburgh atop the Atlantic Division with 93 points, but are second in the East by virtue of one more victory.

Trying to move closer to a second straight division title, New Jersey now goes for consecutive road wins for the first time since winning three in a row from Jan. 2-12.

Doing so at the Wachovia Center will be a tough task. The Devils have dropped three straight there since a 3-2 overtime victory on Dec. 4, 2008, and are 1-4-1 over the last six visits.

In the teams' last meeting in Philadelphia on Feb. 8, the Flyers (37-32-6) rallied from a two-goal, second-period deficit for a 3-2 victory. Two days later in New Jersey, the Flyers again rallied from two goals down to beat the Devils 3-2 on Simon Gagne's overtime goal.

Gagne thought he scored for the second straight game in Saturday's 4-1 loss to Pittsburgh, but his second-period goal was waved off after the referee ruled Ville Leino interfered with Penguins goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury.

"I don't know if you're allowed to do that, look at the (scoreboard) replay and change your decision," Gagne said.

As disappointed as Flyers coach Peter Laviolette was with that call, he was even more disheartened with losing another goaltender. With Ray Emery out for the season with a hip injury and Michael Leighton possibly done for the year with a high ankle sprain, rookie Johan Backlund left after two periods due to a lower-body injury.

The 28-year-old Swede stopped 22 of 24 shots in his NHL debut.

"Under the circumstances of coming in here and playing the defending Stanley Cup champs ... I thought (Backlund) did a good job. I thought he looked sharp," said Laviolette, whose team will try to avoid its first six-game slide since an 0-3-3 stretch to open last season. "It's unfortunate what happened."

With his team tied with Boston for the last playoff spot and two points ahead of ninth-place Atlanta, Laviolette doesn't have much choice but to go with Brian Boucher, who is 1-6-2 with a 3.33 goals-against average in his last nine games.

Boucher was in net in Philadelphia's only setback to the Devils in five matchups this season - 4-1 in New Jersey on Dec. 12.

Brodeur, meanwhile is 6-1-1 with a 2.11 GAA in his last eight games, but 0-4-1 with a 3.26 GAA in his last five appearances in Philadelphia.