SAVING GRACE: Martin Brodeur deflects a shot as the Flyers’ Eric Wellwood waits in vain for a rebound during the Devils’ 4-2 triumph last night at Prudential Center. Brodeur celebrated his 40th birthday yesterday as the Devils took a 3-1 series lead. (AP)
Age doesn’t matter to an immortal.
Now the Devils are on the brink of reaching the Eastern Conference finals for the first time since winning the Stanley Cup in 2003. Martin Brodeur celebrated his 40th birthday last night with a 4-2 victory over the Flyers at Prudential Center that gave the Devils a 3-1 hammerlock on their second-round series.
“Nice feeling off a win,” Brodeur said of playoff victory No. 106. “The guys played well in front of me.
“A lot of people were talking about my birthday. It was center stage.”
Now comes tomorrow’s chance in Philadelphia to close out the Flyers, who won after falling into a 3-1 hole against the Bruins in 2010.
“That’s a comeback team,” Brodeur said. “They’ve shown it all year, and shown it in the past.
“We can’t take anything for granted.”
The Devils have never lost a series they’ve led 3-1, winning all eight times. Only 24 teams have triumphed from 252 3-1 deficits in NHL best-of-7 play. The Devils did it to the Flyers in the 2000 Eastern Conference finals, leading to their second Cup.
“We can enjoy this for a little bit, but to get the fourth win, we know there’s a lot of work ahead,” Zach Parise said.
They were likely to “enjoy this” with some wise guy birthday presents for Brodeur, the NHL’s all-time record holder with 24 playoff shutouts, 656 regular season victories, 1,191 games and 119 shutouts.
The Devils made a point of getting Brodeur his second birthday victory, against two losses.
“The most important thing was getting the win for Marty to celebrate his birthday,” said Bryce Salvador, a comparative points machine in these playoffs, now 1-4-5 in 11 playoff games, after an 0-9-9 82-game season.
The Devils can win a second straight series for the first time since their last Cup. They’re already 1-1 in Philadelphia, winning Game 2 after losing the opener in overtime.
They outshot the Flyers 43-22 last night, and the score flattered the losers. The Devils were as dominant as they’ve been in the postseason, and shook off Philadelphia’s attempts at physical intimidation.
The Flyers counted the scoring chances at 13-4 Devils in the first period, but Jersey could only manage to take a 2-2 score into the second.
The Devils had to erase a 2-0 deficit, conceded on only four shots. Scott Hartnell tipped a power play shot past Brodeur’s left leg at 11:50, and Claude Giroux slipped a short-handed breakaway under Brodeur’s right pad at 13:40.
Petr Sykora started the Devils back at 15:14 with his second, finishing an artistic power play from Travis Zajac in the left corner to Marek Zidlicky at the right point, to Sykora at the left side for a back door goal.
Zidlicky tied the score at 18:09 of the first with his first career playoff goal, steering home Bryce Salvador’s left point pass after Ilya Kovalchuk ducked behind his check to feed Salvador.
Dainius Zubrus gave the Devils their first lead at 17:47 of the second, set up in the right front by rookie Adam Henrique from the end boards. Henrique recovered his own broken 2-on-1 pass towards Sykora to center for Zubrus, whose shot went in off goalie Ilya Bryzgalov.
Zubrus added the empty-netter with 44.4 seconds to play.
“I think we have done a pretty good job,” Zubrus said Dainius Zubrus, who scored the winner and empty-netter. “We talk about it and the coaches talk about it. Just kind of keep it one day at a time.
“We know how good this team is that we are playing against. We are going to go to their building. It is not an easy place to play but we will worry about our game and believe that we can win a game.”
The Devils held a 32-12 shot advantage after two periods, but 3.2 seconds after it ended, Giroux was penalized for nailing Zubrus with a right shoulder to the left side of Zubrus’ head.
Zubrus returned for the third and scored the empty-netter with 44.4 seconds left, hooked down by Danny Briere after stealing the puck, which slid into the net.
Brodeur even notched an assist on that goal, the 11th of his playoff career to go with one goal.
Devils center Ryan Carter, who scored game-winner in the playoff opener against Florida, sat out last night. The Devils said he was “ill.” Tim Sestito made his Stanley Cup playoffs debut in his place.