Eastern Conference Semifinal Game 2 (Series tied 1-1)
Devils 4, Flyers 1 (Recap, Box Score)
David Clarkson, New Jersey Devils
Maybe he was simply in the right place at the right time, but he picked a great time to score his first goal of the playoffs, scoring the game-winning goal at the 11:17 mark of the third period (shown above) to give the Devils their first lead of the night. He finished by playing nearly 17 minutes and attempting five shots, including the one that ended up beating Ilya Bryzgalov.
The New Jersey Devils second period effort was one of the most dominating performances I've seen this postseason.
It took the Flyers nearly 19 minutes to record their first shot of the period, and up until that point had only managed to even attempt one. The Devils were simply all over the Philadelphia end of the ice, creating chances and throwing everything they could at Bryzgalov. Did they score? No. But it was a sign that they were taking over the game and that it was only going to be a matter of time until they finally broke through if they could sustain that sort of pressure. And they did.
This is what the second period looked like from a shots perspective, via our Gametracker:
That is what a dominant period of hockey looks like.
It only took three minutes into the third period for New Jersey to finally score (thanks to Adam Larsson's first career playoff goal) and from there the floodgates were opened.
A pretty thorough beating administered by the Devils, even without the services of one of their best players, Ilya Kovalchuk.
Even though the Flyers had the lead heading into the third period you had to feel the momentum being entirely on New Jersey's side given the way it had controlled the game to that point. The Flyers high-powered offensive attack never had much of a chance to do anything as New Jersey kept them in their own end of the ice all night. It's only the second time this postseason the Flyers didn't score at least three goals in a game.
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