Devils beat Flyers, 4-1

NEWARK, N.J. - With a sea of empty black and red seats in the (sometimes) church-quiet Prudential Center, it didn't feel like a key game between two bitter Eastern Conference rivals fighting for playoff positioning on Sunday night.

But the New Jersey Devils didn't match their fan base's lethargy.

Ilya Kovalchuk scored a goal and added two assists as the Devils defeated the listless Flyers, 4-1.

The Flyers were playing their fifth game in eight nights - and it showed. They generated little attack time and seemed a step behind for most of the night as their five-game winning streak ended.

The Flyers, coming off a 1-0 shootout win Saturday in Toronto, scored just one goal, total, in two weekend games. That's their lowest two-game output of the season.

Sergei Bobrovsky, a surprise starter instead of the sizzling Ilya Bryzgalov, absorbed the loss in his first start since Feb. 12. Bobrovsky got little support from an offense that managed 19 shots, the Flyers' second-lowest total of the season.

"I've seen us with a lot better jump and a lot better pop," coach Peter Laviolette said. "The same with [Saturday] night. The difference was that Bryz stole the show. I thought Bob played well. I'm not knocking Bob, because he made some big saves, but our attack is not where it needs to be, and that takes a lot of energy and a lot of work."

"We lost a lot of battles, one-on-one, and that's not the kind of team we are," said Claude Giroux, who equaled his career high with his 25th goal. "We're the kind of team that works harder than the other team. A lot of times tonight, we got outworked."

The Devils, taking advantage of Jaromir Jagr's turnover, made it 3-1 when Kovalchuk scored from the high slot with 11 minutes, 52 seconds remaining. It gave him 30 goals, the ninth consecutive season he has reached that plateau.

A little more than six minutes later, Zach Parise scored a power-play goal on a rebound. Bobrovsky was slow to react.

Defenseman Anton Volchenkov snapped a 1-1 tie early in the third period to give the Devils the lead for good.

The Flyers had tied the score on Giroux's goal 16 seconds into the third period. Jagr went below the goal line and fed Giroux in front, ending the Flyers' scoreless drought at 106:43.

With the win, the Devils - who also played their fifth game in eight nights - tied the Flyers for points (85) in the battle for fifth in the Eastern Conference. The Flyers have a game in hand.

The teams will meet again Tuesday at the Wells Fargo Center.

Bryzgalov had started 11 straight and had shutouts in three of his last four performances. He has not allowed a goal in the last 1:36.13, and he has stopped 135 of the last 137 shots he has faced.

"We had talked about this, looking at the schedule and what's coming up - the back-to-back," Laviolette said before the game. "Eleven in a row, and every other night pretty much. It's a chance to get a fresh goaltender in."

Bobrovsky (28 saves) was sharp in the first two periods before fading.

At the other end, Martin Brodeur was forced to make few difficult saves as he notched his 650th career win, extending his NHL record.

"Our execution wasn't there," said Flyers rookie center Sean Couturier, whose team entered the night leading the NHL in goals per game (3.22). "We didn't put enough pucks at the net. We made it easy for their defense."

Bobrovsky had no chance to stop Patrik Elias' power-play goal, scored on a tic-tac-toe passing play, to give the Devils a 1-0 lead with 25 seconds left in the opening period.

It was the first power-play goal the Flyers had surrendered in the last seven games, during which they had killed 14 in a row. New Jersey was 2 for 5 on its power play Sunday.