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Flyers win fourth straight as Matt Read delivers in OT

NEWARK, N.J. - Late in overtime Friday, Matt Read skated down the left wing on a two-on-one, and as he slowed down and nearly came to a stop, the only thing on his mind was to feed the puck to teammate Sean Couturier.

NEWARK, N.J. - Late in overtime Friday, Matt Read skated down the left wing on a two-on-one, and as he slowed down and nearly came to a stop, the only thing on his mind was to feed the puck to teammate Sean Couturier.

"I just knew I had Coots and had a lot of time," Read said. "I was just looking for a pass pretty much the whole time."

But Couturier was covered and Read was forced to whip a shot, and after it took a fortuitous bounce, the Flyers had their first four-game winning streak since January.

Flyers 4, Devils 3.

"I'd say it was pretty lucky; it hit the goalie [Cory Schneider] in the shoulder and rolls over and into the net," Read said after the puck dribbled past the goal line with 1 minute, 36 seconds left in overtime. "I'll take it; it's a good two points."

Excluding an empty-netter, it was Read's first goal in his last 22 games. It was also the first OT goal of his career.

"Definitely a big weight off my shoulders," he said.

The Flyers had killed 24 straight penalties before Mike Cammalleri scored on a rebound with 1 minute, 1 second left in regulation to tie the score at 3-3. The Devils had pulled their goalie and had a six-on-four at the time.

Pierre-Edouard Bellemare had scored on a rebound with 10:10 remaining in regulation to put the Flyers ahead, 3-2. Bellemare was then called for tripping with 2:21 left, setting up the Devils' power-play goal.

"I was pretty happy, and then I take a stupid two- [minute penalty]," Bellemare said. "...But we battled hard and it's a great win."

Wayne Simmonds, the definition of a streaky scorer, deposited his fourth goal in the last three games, enabling the Flyers to steady themselves after Michal Neuvirth (15 saves) allowed a soft early goal.

Despite playing their second game in as many nights, New Jersey appeared energized early in the third period and tied the score at 2-2 with 18:05 left in regulation, getting a goal from Kyle Palmieri just after a Flyers penalty expired.

With the Flyers on a five-on-three power play, a falling-down Claude Giroux (two points) converted a slick pass from Jake Voracek (two assists) by going upstairs and scoring from out front, snapping a 1-1 tie with 12:48 to go in the second period. It was the Flyers' second power-play goal in as many chances.

Simmonds had tied it at 1-1 with 10:04 remaining in the first, scoring his seventh goal all of which have come on the road.

"I was actually talking to my girlfriend about that," Simmonds said with a chuckle. "I thought it was kind of weird and I said it was because I wasn't with her, but that's obviously not the reason. I think we are just starting to get a few bounces now, and we've been on the road this last little bit and that's when I started to heat up."

With the Flyers on a power play, Voracek's goal-mouth pass deflected off Simmonds' skate, caromed off the skate of Schneider and into the net, knotting the score at 1-all.

"There was no kicking motion. I knew it was a goal," Simmonds said after a video review confirmed it.

It gave Simmonds his sixth point in the last three games, and it ended the Devils' streak of 23 straight home penalty kills.

"He's doing the little things the right way - and doing things consistently," coach Dave Hakstol said. "And then when you see some of the extra-effort plays he's making, that's leadership."

On his first shift, Simmonds delivered a crunching hit on Jordin Tootoo 15 seconds into the game.

"We've had a hard time in the beginning of games, and Wayne went and just hammered the guy and the whole bunch got fired up and woke up right away," Bellemare said.

The Devils have owned the Flyers in recent seasons. They entered the night with a 10-2-2 record - and a 45-25 goals domination - against the Flyers since the start of the 2012-13 season.

scarchidi@phillynews.com

@BroadStBull