Flyers storm past Devils, 4-1

Jeff Carter and Danny Briere were absent from the score sheet, but they were thoroughly involved in action in the first three games of the Flyers' playoff series with New Jersey.

"These guys are getting looks," coach Peter Laviolette said before Game 4. "I think it's just a matter of time."

That time was Tuesday night.

Carter and Briere scored second-period goals to erase a one-goal deficit and propel the Flyers past the New Jersey Devils, 4-1, before a raucous crowd at the Wachovia Center.

Carter finished with two goals as the Flyers took a stranglehold of their exhilarating seven-game tug-of-war with their rivals from up the Jersey Turnpike.

The Flyers lead the first-round series, three games to one, with Game 5 in Newark on Thursday.

In the franchise's history, the Flyers have a 17-2 series record when they have a three-games-to-one lead. The only times they have lost a three-games-to-one series lead: 1988 against Washington, and in 2000 against New Jersey.

Goalie Brian Boucher again outplayed Martin Brodeur - who was denied his 100th career playoff win - as the Flyers won for the eighth time in 10 meetings with the Devils this season.

The fans showered Brodeur with mocking chants of "Mar-tee, Mar-tee" throughout the second and third periods.

Third-period goals by Dan Carcillo and Carter (on a five-on-three power play) enabled the Flyers to pull away from a 2-1 lead. Simon Gagne suffered a lower-body injury and did not play in the final period. Gagne appeared to get hurt blocking a second-period shot.

With 15 minutes, 31 seconds left in the second period and the Devils holding a 1-0 lead, Brodeur showed why he is hockey royalty.

Prone on his side, the all-time leading winner in NHL history somehow gloved Gagne's bullet from the slot. Gagne had taken a slick back pass from Mike Richards and appeared to have Brodeur measured.

But the almost-38-year-old goalie showed the reflexes that have made him a legend.

Undeterred, the Flyers kept applying pressure and it resulted in the tying goal, a power-play score by Carter with 10:52 left in the second.

Carter scored from the left circle, notching his first goal of the playoffs and offsetting an earlier goal by Ilya Kovalchuk, who had also been struggling in the series. It was Carter's first goal in the six games he has played since returning from a broken left foot.

Briere, another player who had not scored in the series, beat Brodeur with a tracer from above the right circle to put the Flyers ahead, 2-1, with 2:33 remaining in the second.

Briere took a pass from defenseman Braydon Coburn and fired a shot that went over Brodeur's glove for the 24th playoff goal of his career. The shot may have deflected off the stick of defenseman Paul Martin, who was a few feet in front of Briere.

Before the game, Laviolette felt good vibrations.

"I feel if we come out and play our game, then we'll win tonight," he said.

That was before New Jersey dominated the first period as the Flyers picked up three penalties and seemed out of sync.

With the Devils on a five-on-three because of penalties to Coburn (holding) and Chris Pronger (cross-checking), Kovalchuk gave New Jersey a 1-0 lead with 7:36 left in the opening period. Kovalchuk, whose only other goal in the series was an empty-netter, faked a shot from the left side to get away from Blair Betts and, as he skated into the right circle, fired a low shot that beat Boucher to the far post.

Boucher was solid in the first period, making 11 saves as the Flyers were outshot, 12-7.

A little over a minute into the period, Mike Richards held the puck as he moved from right to left in front of Brodeur, but the goalie - who was on all fours - got his stick handle on the shot to preserve the 1-0 lead.

About 20 seconds later, a shot by Pronger was deflected off the post.

The Flyers took a 2-1 lead into the third period even though they had given New Jersey seven power plays. The Devils had one power-play goal in the first 40 minutes, while the Flyers were 1 for 4 with the extra skater heading into the third period.