When the Devils picked up Ilya Kovalchuk at the trade deadline this year, I don’t think their ultimate goal was to win a single game in their first round series. That’s all they’ll leave with though, as the Philadelphia Flyers became the first team to move on to the second round with a 3-0 win over Kovalchuk and the Devils at the Prudential Center in Newark on Thursday.
Daniel Briere scored another powerplay goal for the Flyers, who were incredibly dangerous with the man advantage in this series. Briere’s goal just over 3 minutes into the first was all the offense the Flyers would need, as Brian Boucher turned in yet another great performance, stopping all 28 New Jersey shots in front of a sellout crowd on enemy turf. Coming into this series, it was supposed to be the Devils who won games with their goaltending, and while Brodeur was solid throughout, Boucher was even better.
Claude Giroux scored his 3rd and 4th goals of the playoffs in the 2nd to put the game out of reach for New Jersey, blasting a clapper from the high slot that Brodeury never had a chance on, and tapping in a rebound on the powerplay that put Philly up 3-0 with about 26 minutes left in the game.
Clearly a disappointing result for the Devils, who thought that the addition of Kovalchuk would add a healthy dose of offense to their stifling defense. Philadelphia, who battled their way into the playoffs with a crucial overtime win over New York on the final day of the season, just looked like the hungrier team all series. The combination of their great special teams play and the stellar work of Boucher between the pipes proved too much for New Jersey to handle, and the Flyers will have plenty of time to rest up before a likely matchup with the top-seeded Washington Capitals. The injuries to Jeff Carter and Simon Gagne have to be troubling, but it didn’t show in this one.