Carter, Briere bolster Flyers

Jeff Carter and Danny Briere were absent from the score sheet, but because they were thoroughly involved in the action in the playoff series' first three games, Flyers coach Peter Laviolette had predicted it was "a matter of time" before they made an impact.

That time was Tuesday night.

Carter and Briere scored second-period goals to erase a one-goal deficit and propel the Flyers past the New Jersey Devils, 4-1, before a raucous crowd at the Wachovia Center.

Carter finished with two goals as the Flyers took a stranglehold of their exhilarating tug-of-war with their rivals from up the Jersey Turnpike.

The Flyers lead the series, three games to one, with Game 5 in Newark on Thursday.

Carter and Briere each finished with three points.

"It's huge," Carter said of the Flyers' grip on the series. "This is what we wanted coming into the game. We just have got to keep on going. We know we have a tough game coming up in Jersey. We have to lay it all on the ice."

In the franchise's history, the Flyers have a 17-2 series record when they have a 3-1 lead. The only times they have lost a 3-1 series lead: 1988 against Washington, and in 2000 against New Jersey.

New Jersey is 1-7 in series when it has lost three of the first four games.

Goalie Brian Boucher again outplayed Martin Brodeur, who was denied his 100th career playoff win, as the Flyers won for the eighth time in 10 meetings with the Devils this season.

The fans showered Brodeur with mocking chants of "Mar-tee, Mar-tee" throughout the second and third periods.

Third-period goals by Dan Carcillo and Carter (on a five-on-three power play) enabled the Flyers to pull away from a 2-1 lead. Simon Gagne suffered what is believed to be a broken toe and did not play in the final period. Gagne apparently was hurt blocking a second-period shot.

Gagne will be reexamined Wednesday to determine whether he plays Thursday.

"Simon's a big player on our team, but somebody is going to have to step up if he can't play," general manager Paul Holmgren said.

With 15 minutes, 31 seconds left in the second period and the Devils holding a 1-0 lead, Brodeur showed why he is hockey royalty.

Prone on his side, the all-time leading winner in NHL history somehow gloved Gagne's bullet from the slot. Gagne had taken a slick back-pass from Mike Richards and appeared to have Brodeur measured.

But the almost-38-year-old goalie showed the reflexes that have made him a legend.

Instead of being deterred, the Flyers ratcheted their attack and scored two goals later in the period.

Defenseman Chris Pronger said Brodeur's highlight-film save - Carter called it the best he's ever seen in his young career - didn't deflate the Flyers.

"We try to be positive on our side of the bench. I'm not sure what you guys think up top," he said, referring to reporters in the press box. "It was just a matter of time. He's going to make a save like that. He made some the other night on us and we have to keep on pushing forward. It's the playoffs."

The Flyers kept applying pressure and it resulted in the tying goal, a power-play score by Carter with 10:52 left in the second.

Carter scored from the left circle, notching his first goal of the playoffs and offsetting an earlier goal by Ilya Kovalchuk, who had also been struggling in the series. It was Carter's first goal in the six games he has played since returning from a broken left foot.

"I've felt like every game I've gotten stronger and a little more confident, and tonight I was able to get a couple by him," Carter said.

Briere, another player who had not scored in the series, beat Brodeur with a tracer from above the right circle to put the Flyers ahead, 2-1, with 2:33 remaining in the second. The shot may have deflected off the stick of Paul Martin.