Zach Parise? Nope. Ilya Kovalchuk? Nice try. Travis Zajac? Guess again. It was Alexei Ponikarovsky who picked a pretty good time to score his first goal of the playoffs, scoring the game-winner for the Devils Thursday night in their 4-3 overtime victory over the Flyers in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference semifinals in Newark.
With time dwindling down in overtime, Ponikarovsky came off the bench and caught the Flyers in a line change. He took a perfect pass from Kovalchuk, (who made his return to the lineup after sitting out Tuesday with a lower-body injury) and buried his own rebound behind Ilya Bryzgalov with 2:39 remaining to give the Devils a 2-1 series lead.
“I knew it right away because I just jumped from the bench and saw [Philadelphia’s] players going toward the bench for a change. And I saw [Kovalchuk] turning in and I knew right away I had a huge hole. Great play by [Kovalchuk],” Ponikarovsky said.
“When I got that rebound, I knew it was in and I didn’t really have time to celebrate. But then it was a great feeling in the pile.”
It was his 10th game of these playoffs, having only registered two points in the previous nine games. But he got two last night, assisting on Kovalchuk’s goal to give the Devils a 2-1 lead, before Kovalchuk returned the favor in overtime.
“He is one of those depth guys in our lineup [who] are hard to play against,’’ Devils coach Peter DeBoer said. “It was nice for him to get a goal. I thought that he made an even better play on Kovalchuk’s goal by driving the middle lane and drawing people to him and opening up a hole for [Kovalchuk] in the first. He did a lot of good things.”
Ponikarovsky was playing on a new line with Kovalchuk and Adam Henrique and he seemed to be thriving.
“He made a great play when I scored the goal,’’ Kovalchuk said. “This guy is a monster. His shot is so good, so I tell him all the time to shoot the puck more, and he did, so it’s nice to see those guys score the big goals for us.’’
Ponikarovsky was traded to the Devils from the Hurricanes in January, playing in 33 games for New Jersey, notching seven goals and 15 points. But he knew his scoring wasn’t the only reason the team brought him in, given his size and forechecking ability.
“When I came in, I obviously realized that they got me for a reason and knew what [I was] capable of, and how you have to play on this team,” he said. “That’s what I’ve been doing for the last couple of months.”
The 11-year veteran has 48 games of playoff experience, scoring four goals, but this was his first in overtime. He declined to take most of the credit.
“It could be anybody,” Ponikarovsky said. “Overtime winners are not just one guy. Everybody is contributing doing the little things right. You just have to be focused shift after shift.
“It could be somebody else, but tonight it was me, and I’m glad I threw that puck in for the win.”
Martin Brodeur made 25 saves to earn his final victory as a 39-year old. He will turn 40 on Sunday when Game 4 of this series takes place. He said he was glad Ponikarovsky got rewarded for his efforts.
“He’s been working extremely hard every game,’’ Brodeur said. “He is a big body, a big boy and a good guy, too. Nice for him to get that goal. I am sure we are going to hear about it for a while but that is OK.”
—Additional reporting by Nicole Musa
david.satriano@nypost.com