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Zajac, Clemmensen carry Devils past Flyers

Dec 21, 2008 - 11:06 PM NEWARK, New Jersey (Ticker) -- Travis Zajac scored in the fifth round of the shootout and Scott Clemmensen stopped 27 shots as the New Jersey Devils posted a 3-2 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers on Sunday.

Patrik Elias and Brian Rolston each scored in regulation for New Jersey, which improved to 12-2-1 in its last 15 games.

Joffrey Lupul and Jeff Carter each had a goal and an assist for Philadelphia, which lost for just the sixth time in its last 20 games (14-2-4).

Captain Jamie Langenbrunner kept the Devils alive when he beat Antero Niittymaki with a wrist shot in the third round after Carter missed a chance to win it. Lupul was turned aside by Clemmensen two rounds later, and Zajac beat Niittymaki glove side to seal the win.

"Clemmer (Clemmensen) did a great job of giving us a chance, stopping that third guy and I was lucky enough to get one and sure enough, we get the win," Langenbrunner said.

"I just missed my shot a little bit. It was where I wanted to shoot it," Lupul said. "It's a good point for us. In the shootout, we had our chances to win it. We had some good chances in overtime too. A good point for us."

Zajac helped the Devils rebound after they let a 2-0 lead slip away.

"We worked pretty hard all game and we knew we had to win tonight," Zajac said.

Lupul tied the game with 4:44 left in regulation by tapping in a pass from Carter at the right side of the crease.

"Any time you get a point against these guys, it's good," Carter said. "Their goalie made a couple of good saves in the shootout. We'll take the point though."

Prior to Lupul's game-tying tally, Carter cut the Flyers' deficit in half when he banged home a rebound from the left side with 2:42 left in the second.

"I didn't get a good look at either of the two goals to tell you the truth," Clemmensen said. "The first one was obviously a shot rebound. I just tried to go down."

After a scoreless first period, Elias and Rolston scored 1:06 apart in the second.

Niittymaki, who stopped a season-high 47 shots in a 7-1 win over Washington on Saturday, turned away 24 in this one.

"We found a way to win," Devils coach Brent Sutter said. "When you get in a shootout, you never know what's going to happen."