One of the few Flyers that got off to a slow start this postseason was Jeff Carter. After playing a huge role in helping Philly take a stranglehold on this series, his playoffs might be over, as he is scheduled for surgery to repair a fracture in his foot he injured during Tuesday’s 4-1 win at the Wachovia Center.
Ilya Kovalchuk scored his 2nd playoff goal as a Devil in the first period, converting on New Jersey’s 2nd of what would be 8 powerplay chances in the game. The Devils’ powerplay, along with the rest of their offense, went cold after that, as they were unable to solve the remarkable impressive Brian Boucher over the last two periods.
On the other bench, Jeff Carter got the Flyers on the board with a powerplay goal midway through the second, and Danny Briere lit the lamp with a heavy drive from the side boards that beat Brodeur high to the stick side and put Philly up for good. Daniel Carcillo, the overtime hero of Game 3, scored 4 minutes into the 3rd, somehow slipping a shot from below the goal line between Brodeur’s pads, and Carter scored his 2nd powerplay goal of the night with two Devils in the box, planting himself in the slot and knocking home a rebound off a drive from the point.
The Devils will have to hope they can find a way to solve Boucher in the remaining games, as the veteran keeper has looked fantastic throughout this series, and finished the game with 30 saves. Brodeur will need to find his game in a hurry, as he gave up 4 goals on just 28 Philadelphia shots. In another bad break for the Flyers, Simon Gagne suffered a fractured foot and has been ruled out for the remainder of the series after his foot was struck by a slapshot from Chris Pronger.