The Devils discovered some late-game magic, but still had to settle for just one point, largely because of an extra-motivated Claude Giroux.
Hours after getting the disappointing news he would not be joining the Canadian hockey team at next month’s Sochi Olympics, Giroux woke up the road-weary Flyers with a power-play goal and Brayden Schenn scored the game-winner at 1:50 of overtime as the Flyers beat the Devils 3-2 Tuesday night after New Jersey scored a late short-handed goal that forced the extra session.
“I mean, yeah, anytime someone takes something away from you, you want to prove them wrong,” Giroux said after the Flyers finished off a 5-1 road trip with their second straight come-from-behind win. “But you know what? I put that behind me. I just have to move on here. Just play my game. It’s a fun game out there. … I’m not going to stress myself with that.”
Scott Hartnell also scored for Philadelphia and Ray Emery made 31 saves to win for the eighth time in nine games.
Michael Ryder tied it at 2 on a short-handed goal with 30 seconds left in regulation. It came on a great feed from defenseman Marek Zidlicky, with goalie Martin Brodeur on the bench for an extra skater.
Adam Henrique also scored for the Devils, who are 0-2-1 in their last three games.
The Devils took a 1-0 lead in the opening minute of the game on a great individual effort by Jaromir Jagr. He skated around a Flyers defenseman in the right circle and centered the puck across the crease. It tipped Ryan Clowe’s stick, and Henrique came out from behind the net to tap it in for his fourth goal in six games.
The point was the 1,723rd of Jagr’s career, tying him with former Penguins teammate Mario Lemieux for seventh in NHL history.
Devils coach Pete DeBoer said it was the second straight game in which his team outplayed an opponent and came up short because it failed to take advantage of scoring chances.
“It’s frustrating because we are not getting rewarded for the effort,” DeBoer said.
Schenn’s game-winner was set up by a great back-door pass by defenseman Nicklas Grossman from the left point. He saw Schenn moving down the right side and found the center in the right circle for a shot that beat Brodeur, who had 25 saves.
Brodeur had made a close-in save on Schenn on a late power play to keep New Jersey in the game.
Nevertheless, Schenn, who was cut across the stomach with a skate earlier in the game, got his revenge when he took a pass from Grossmann that Brodeur didn’t think the defenseman was capable of making.
“It’s kind of mind-boggling a little bit because we are better than what the results on the ice are,” Brodeur said.
Giroux tied it 1-all with a power-play goal at 5:18. Hartnell, who has points in eight straight games, gave the Flyers a 2-1 lead with a shot from the left circle on a quick counterattack.
The Olympic snub was a bit surprising for the 25-year-old Flyers captain seemed. He had 12 goals and 26 assists coming into the game and was playing good hockey.
It wasn’t good enough.
“Well, you know I’ve kind of accepted that I’m not going to be on the team. That’s fine,” said Giroux, who has eight goals and 11 assists in his last 13 games. “There are a lot of good players out there. It can’t be an easy job for them to pick all those players, so right now I’m just worried about the Flyers and keep winning games.”
The Devils’ chances of tying the game seemed dim when Travis Zajac high-sticked Giroux with less than two minutes to play, but they found a way.
“I thought Giroux played an outstanding game, from start to finish,” Flyers coach Craig Berube said. “I thought he was physical, competed and did everything possible out there.”
The Flyers were unable to capitalize on a 1:44 power-play advantage at the start of the third period, but they didn’t fail when Devils defenseman Mark Fayne was called for interference at 4:27.
Less than a minute into the extra-man advantage, Giroux rifled a shot from the top of the left circle that beat Brodeur into the top corner of the net. The goalie may not have had a good view of the shot with Hartnell and Wayne Simmonds screening him.
It was Giroux’s 13th of the season and it gave him a team-high 39 points.
Hartnell made the breakout pass out of the Flyers’ zone to Schenn and he hustled up the ice to take a return pass that he quickly put into the net for his 10th goal.