Devils 4, Flyers 1 (FINAL) newjerseydevils.com (Nov. 8) – New home, same result.

Hosting the Flyers for the first time at Prudential Center, the Devils posted a 4-1 win on Thursday night to extend their home-ice dominance over their Atlantic Division rivals.

Dainius Zubrus scored his first two goals of the season, and Rod Pelley registered the first of his NHL career for the Devils, who responded to a 1-0 first-period deficit by notching four unanswered goals, including two within a span of 18 seconds.

"He's obviously a guy who has to contribute for us," coach Brent Sutter said of Zubrus, who had gone 14 games without a goal. "It hasn't been because of a lack of work ethic. Sometimes, it's when you try to do too much that maybe it affects your game to some degree."

Martin Brodeur (5-7-1) made his seventh straight start, stopping 13 shots for win No. 499, while his counterpart Martin Biron was pulled in favor of Antero Niittymaki after allowing four goals on 14 shots.

New Jersey (6-7-2) is a perfect 9-0-0 over its last nine home games versus Philadelphia, and improves to 3-2-0 in Newark.

Mike Knuble got the Flyers on the board with a power-play goal at 12:20, when Mike Richards' shot from the top of the right circle redirected off of Knuble's skate and through Brodeur.

But just days removed from Monday's 5-0 loss to Pittsburgh, the Devils stormed back, starting with Brian Gionta's fourth goal of the season.

"Our guys on the bench just said 'Let's forget about it,'" Sutter said. "We went on with our game plan. We did things the way we needed to do them. The guys were very positive on the bench and they just stayed with it. The didn't let [that first goal] faze them."

The rally began when Gionta, stationed at the bottom of the right circle, slid a Karel Rachunek rebound past Biron on the short side at 14:28. Rachunek had returned to the lineup for the first time since Oct. 27 in Ottawa, missing four games with a sore groin.

Sutter's group capitalized on big rebounds off of Biron, who entered the game with an 8-4-0 record and a goals-against average of 2.01.

Tied at 1-1, Paul Martin put a shot on goal that Biron failed to control, setting up a rebound attempt by Jay Pandolfo. Biron stopped Pandolfo from the slot, but could not recover to deny Zubrus, who was set up at the right side of the crease to bang Pandolfo's rebound into the net for a 2-1 Devils lead at 14:46.

Then, with 29.4 seconds remaining in the first period, Zubrus collected a David Clarkson pass on the rush at the Flyers blueline and fired a shot from the left circle on Biron that handcuffed him, glancing off his catching glove and into the net for a 3-1 lead.

Pelley brought Biron's night to an early end in the second, driving down the right-side boards one-on-one with Kimmo Timonen and beating Biron to the far side with a backhand shot at 2:48.

The Devils outshot the Flyers 30-8 after 40 minutes, en route to posting a season-high 39 shots on goal. New Jersey's previous high of 38 came in its Oct. 18 meeting with Philadelphia at the Wachovia Center.

Productivity on the power play, however, continued to elude the Devils, who were 0-for-6 on Thursday, and have gone four games without scoring on the man advantage (0-for-17).

The Devils now gear up for Saturday's road match with the Islanders at Nassau Coliseum (7:00 p.m., FSN NY 2, WFAN 660 AM).

New Jersey will make a stop in Pittsburgh on Monday, Nov. 12, to battle the Penguins (7:30 p.m., MSG, WFAN 660 AM) before returning home to host the Rangers for the first time at Prudential Center on Wednesday, Nov. 14.

The next promotional night at Prudential Center is set for Friday, Nov. 30, against Montréal, when all fans in attendance will receive a Devils souvenir puck featuring the Prudential Center Inaugural Season commemorative logo, courtesy of Dale and Thomas Popcorn.

NJD NOTES
With his next win, Martin Brodeur will become just the second goaltender in NHL history to record 500 wins. Patrick Roy holds the league record with 551.