New Jersey Devils eliminate Philadelphia Flyers 3-1 in Game 5 -NHL Playoffs Update
New Jersey Devils came out strong yet again and eliminated Philadelphia Flyers on their own turf, 3-1, in Game 5 of the 2012 National Hockey League (NHL) Stanley Cup Eastern Conference Playoff Semi-Finals on Tuesday, May 8, 2012, at the sold-out Wells Fargo
Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Playing without their leading scorer, Claude Giroux, took its toll on the Flyers club as they barely managed to get some quality shots and just played physically most of the time while Devils potted goal after goal.
"We played really hard this series," New Jersey veteran goalie, Martin Brodeur, said. "We survived a few scares in the first series. So it's nice that we finished this off today and looking forward to a little break here and see what we're going to face
in the conference finals."
Maxime Talbot got the first of the night and gave Philadelphia a one point lead with his fourth of the postseason but New Jersey got in the groove as well with Bryce Salvador and David Clarkson adding two straight in the next five minutes.
Clarkson’s breakaway goal was definitely the highlight point of the night as Devils fought through traffic to get the player an open shot on the net.
"I just skated to the net and it's just one of those lucky bounces," Clarkson said. "I don’t know how it happens, but you just try to force the goalie, bang my stick a little bit. I didn't even know it went in until some of the crowd started booing. It was
a pretty good feeling when it went in."
Ilya Kovalchuk maintained his reputation after being knocked down earlier in the match as he took advantage on a third period power play with James van Riemsdyk out for holding and securing the match at 5:00.
New Jersey Devils have become the first team to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals and will now be awaiting an opponent from the Washington Capitals-New York Rangers series.
After a compelling series against Pittsburgh Penguins, Philadelphia Flyers were seen going in as the favourites against New Jersey since the Devils had a tough time against Florida Panthers, but things totally turned out to be the opposite.
Tags: