Philadelphia Flyers take lead with 4-3 win over New Jersey Devils -NHL Playoffs Update
New Jersey might have taken the lead but their sloppy play in the remaining part of the matchup allowed Philadelphia to get back in the game as Flyers took the lead in the 2012 National Hockey League (NHL) Stanley Cup Eastern Conference Playoff Semi-Final
series with a 4-3 win against Devils on Sunday night, April 29, 2012, at the sold-out Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.
Devils’ captain, Zach Parise, got the first of the night in round-one as he tipped the puck in after intercepting the Flyers pass for his third goal of the playoffs.
The away team also killed of two straight penalties in the first period alone and seemed dedicated to keep their lead alive heading into round-two.
"I thought we played real well in the first," New Jersey coach, Peter DeBoer, said. "We just couldn't keep it up."
Philadelphia took advantage of their sloppy play as Danny Briere also turned over the possession and got the equaliser on a breakaway opportunity, firing it past veteran Devils’ goalie, Martin Brodeur.
James van Riemsdyk finally made his offensive presence felt with his first of the postseason on an empty net with Brodeur not knowing where to pass the puck as it went behind the net while Travis Zajac attempted to kill the Philadelphia momentum on a power
play advantage as Matt Carle was booked for hooking at 13:22.
"Nobody liked the first period. The players didn't like it. I didn't like it. No one liked it," Flyers coach, Peter Laviolette, said. "So, it was good to get through the first period, only down 1-0. And then for me, it started in the second period. We had
the fire it took to be successful."
Claude Giroux continued being the leading scoring of the postseason, potting his seventh on an added man advantage of their own as Andy Greene was called for hooking. With less than nine minutes to go and New Jersey down by one, Devils went into desperation
mode and Petr Sykora made their day with the equaliser at 11:22, forcing the overtime extension.
Danny Briere fired the overtime game-winner to take a one-game lead in the semi-finals at 4:36.
"I think," Laviolette said about Briere, "everyone expects it from him now."
Game 2 of the series is scheduled for Tuesday, May 1, in Philadelphia at 7:30 PM ET.
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