Ilya Kovalchuk powers New Jersey Devils past Philadelphia Flyers in OT 4-3 -NHL Playoffs Update
Ilya Kovalchuk made the difference New Jersey needed as the Devils routed Philadelphia Flyers in overtime with a 4-3 win, taking a 2-1 lead in the 2012 National Hockey League (NHL) Stanley Cup Eastern Conference Playoff Semi-Final series on Thursday, May
3, 2012, at the sold-out Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.
Kovalchuk was not in Game 2 to help his club but Devils still dominated the night, 4-1, to level off the series.
"You feel pressure," Kovalchuk said, who missed a game due to a back injury. "The guys played so well, and you don't want to get back in the lineup because you just want to play."
Brayden Schenn got Philadelphia off to a strong start as he potted the first of the night on a power play opportunity as Adam Henrique was booked for tripping.
Patrik Elias came back for New Jersey on an added man advantage of their own to level the match at 12:33 while Kovalchuk gave Devils the lead with his fourth of the postseason 20 seconds later.
The power play had worked great for Philadelphia as they capitalised on every other second chance against Pittsburgh Penguins but missed on four of five chances in Game 3 alone, which definitely cost them in the end.
"I think the power play won us a lot of games this year and tonight wasn't the case," Philadelphia’s Claude Giroux said. "We have to do a better job."
Matt Carle tied it all up in the second period off a lucky tip in through veteran New Jersey goalie, Martin Brodeur, while Devils’ captain, Zach Parise, countered with the potential game-winner at 7:29 into the third.
Philadelphia was counting on Danny Briere to make his presence felt as the highest rated player for the Flyers was known for his ability to score under pressure and turn the tables around.
Briere got the puck on a narrow corner to snap it past Brodeur, levelling the game with less than nine minutes to go and forcing the overtime extension.
Alexei Ponikarovsky scored the OT game-winner as Ilya Kovalchuk found the player open on a breakaway and fired it past Ilya Bryzgalov to take the match.
"I didn't have time to celebrate because everyone jumped on me right away, but I had a great time in the pile," said Ponikarovsky.
Game 4 is at New Jersey on Sunday, May 6.
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