GAME THREAD: NHL: PHILADELPHIA (16-14) at NEW JERSEY (17-15)

NHL: PHILADELPHIA at NEW JERSEY

<div class="pre">-----------------------------------------
PHILADELPHIA 0 1 1 --2
NEW JERSEY 0 3 1 --4
-----------------------------------------

FIRST PERIOD -- Scoring: None. Penalties: R Cote, Phi (major fighting), 2:03; M Rupp,
Njd (major fighting), 2:03; A Asham, Njd (roughing), 7:14; S Kapanen,
Phi (holding stick), 10:37; L Kukkonen, Phi (tripping), 14:35; C
White, Njd (hooking), 19:30.

SECOND PERIOD -- Scoring: 1, Philadelphia, Mike Richards 15 (power play)
(Joffrey Lupul, Randy Jones), 0:40. 2, New Jersey, John Madden 9
(power play) (Karel Rachunek, David Clarkson), 2:49. 4, New Jersey,
John Madden 10 (shorthanded) (Jamie Langenbrunner, Vitaly Vishnevski),
10:12. 5, New Jersey, Arron Asham 4 (Zach Parise, Travis Zajac),
13:57. Penalties: J Carter, Phi (tripping), 1:31; S Upshall, Phi
(slashing), 7:30; P Elias, Njd (double minor high sticking), 7:59; D
Zubrus, Njd (holding), 17:07; S Hartnell, Phi (interference), 19:59.

THIRD PERIOD -- Scoring: 6, Philadelphia, Daniel Briere 15 (power play)
(Mike Knuble, Mike Richards), 6:44. 7, New Jersey, Jamie Langenbrunner
5 (empty net) (John Madden), 19:55. Penalties: J Smith, Phi (major
fighting), 2:04; D Clarkson, Njd (major fighting), 2:04; M Knuble, Phi
(holding), 2:35; K Rachunek, Njd (roughing), 4:58; S Brylin, Njd
(holding), 9:09.

Shots on goal:
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PHILADELPHIA 8 14 9 --31
NEW JERSEY 14 15 9 --38
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Missed penalty shots: Daniel Briere, Phi, 9:32 second.
Power-play Conversions: PHI - 2 of 6, NJD - 1 of 6. Goalies :
Philadelphia, Antero Niittymaki (37 shots, 34 saves; record: 3-4-0).
New Jersey, Martin Brodeur (31 shots, 29 saves; record: 16-11-2). A:
16,987. Referees: Francois St. Laurent, Rob Shick. Linesmen: Brian
Murphy, Thor Nelson.

INDIVIDUAL PLAYER STATISTICS

PHILADELPHIA NEW JERSEY
G A +/- Shots G A +/- Shots
J Lupul 0 1 -2 4 R Pelley 0 0 even 2
J Carter 0 0 -2 0 J Madden 2 1 +2 6
M Richards 1 1 -2 5 B Gionta 0 0 even 5
S Hartnell 0 0 even 3 J Langenbrunner1 1 +2 4
D Hatcher 0 0 even 1 D Zubrus 0 0 even 5
R Umberger 0 0 -1 1 M Rupp 0 0 even 0
J Smith 0 0 -1 0 S Brylin 0 0 even 0
M Knuble 0 1 -1 2 T Zajac 0 1 +1 2
S Kapanen 0 0 even 0 V Vishnevski 0 1 +2 0
L Kukkonen 0 0 even 0 A Asham 1 0 +1 2
R Cote 0 0 -1 1 D Clarkson 0 1 even 2
A Picard 0 0 -1 0 P Elias 0 0 even 1
D Briere 1 0 -2 6 M Mottau 0 0 +1 4
B Coburn 0 0 even 1 K Rachunek 0 1 even 1
D Tolpeko 0 0 even 1 C White 0 0 +1 1
B Eager 0 0 -1 1 P Martin 0 0 +1 0
R Jones 0 1 -2 3 S Brookbank 0 0 +1 1
S Upshall 0 0 even 2 Z Parise 0 1 +2 2
K Timonen LOWER BODY INJUR J Pandolfo GROIN
R Fitzpatrick HEALTHY J Oduya HEALTHY
J Dowd HEALTHY A Greene HEALTHY</div>

 

By Joe Rizzo
PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer


NEWARK, New Jersey (Ticker) -- A 40-second span in the secondperiod made all the difference for the New Jersey Devils.

Martin Brodeur stopped a penalty shot and John Madden snapped atie with his second goal of the game as the Devils posted a 4-2victory over the Flyers on Sunday.


Madden's goal - which came shorthanded - snapped a 1-1 tiemoments after Brodeur denied Daniel Briere's penalty shot.

With the Flyers on a power play, Briere skated into the Devils'zone on a partial breakaway and was tripped up by defensemanVitaly Vishnevski at 9:32 of the second. On the penalty shot,he aimed between Brodeur's pads but the reigning Vezina Trophywinner got down and got the paddle of his stick on it.

"The key moment in the game and it turned out to be thegame-breaker," said Brodeur, who stopped 29 shots. "You'rekilling off a four-minute penalty, stop a penalty shot and thenscore shorthanded. You like to write it that way but it usuallydoesn't happen."


"I don't decide before I go what I'm going to do," Briere said."I try to lead with what's available and keep every optionopen. Marty took my decision away at the last second. You tryto do the unexpected. I tried to surprise him by going to the5-hole and it didn't work."


After the key stop Madden forced a turnover and pushed ahead thepuck to Jamie Langenbrunner, who exploded down the left wingand found Madden in the right slot for a perfect one-timer thatblew by goaltender Antero Niittymaki with 10:48 left in theperiod.


"It was a great pass," Madden said. "I could not believe it gotover to me. It went through two sticks."


Arron Asham then broke a long drought with his fourth goal ofthe season 3:45 after Madden's tally to increase the lead to3-1.


The Devils needed the insurance because Briere connected for his15th goal of the season to cut the deficit to 3-2 with 13:16remaining in the third period. Briere ripped a wrist shot overBrodeur's glove from the bottom inside edge of the left circle.

Brodeur, who beat the Flyers for his 500th career win onNovember 17, held them off the rest of the way to register his39th win vs. Philadelphia. He also has beaten the Rangers andIslanders 39 times - his best totals against any team.Langenbrunner added an empty-net goal in the final seconds toseal the win. Madden stole the puck and skated it out of thezone, but passed on a chance for the hat trick.


"I saw Zach ahead of me and Jamie ahead of me, so I just madethe right play," Madden said. "I did not even think about (thehat trick)."


Mike Richards put the Flyers up 1-0 when he scored on a rebound40 seconds into the second period, but Madden knocked home arebound of his own to knot the game at 1-1 just 2:09 later.Niittymaki stopped 34 shots for the Flyers, who have lost threeof the last four meetings between the clubs. The Flyers havedropped three straight games overall and four of their lastfive.


"Before it was that we were taking nights off," Briere said."Now it's like we're taking a period off. We're not making theplays and in a daze or something. I don't know how to explainit."