Flyers 4, Devils 2
Mike Mottau battles Daniel Carcillo in Monday's action.

newjerseydevils.com – The Devils will have one more chance on their three-game road trip to get back into the wins column.

Monday's 4-2 defeat to the Flyers in Philadelphia extended the Devils' recent troubles away from home with their third straight road loss. New Jersey has dropped three of its last four overall.

Jamie Langenbrunner netted his 25th of the year and Brendan Shanahan added his fifth for the Devils, who were without the services of Patrik Elias or Colin White. Both players were sidelined with lower body ailments.  

Jersey's Team holds a seven-point lead over the Flyers for first place in the Atlantic Division with nine games to play, and closed out the season series with a 3-2-1 record against their division foes.

Parise tries to find an opening. Photo Gallery | Game Highlights

Martin Brodeur (15-5-2) made his 12th start since returning from elbow surgery and collected 21 saves. The four-time Vezina Trophy winner had not lost consecutive contests since a three-game winless streak last October that included two against Philadelphia.

Simon Gagne led the way for the Flyers with a goal and two assists. Daniel Briere had a goal and an assist, and Kimmo Timonen added two helpers. Martin Biron made 32 saves for the Flyers, who were outshot 34-25.

Jeff Carter's 40th broke a 2-2 tie 55 seconds into the third period, and Gagne added his 30th for insurance at 3:01.

Zach Parise was held scoreless for just the 20th time in 73 games and saw his points streak snapped at eight games. The Devils are just 7-13 when their leading scorer fails to register a point.

For a second straight contest, the Devils' execution on special teams proved costly. They surrendered goals on all three Philadelphia power plays and finished 1-for-8 with the man advantage. The Devils' power play went 0-for-5 in Sunday's 4-1 defeat at Boston.

The Flyers managed to kill off 12 minutes of penalty time in the final 30:25 of the game, including Daniel Carcillo's four-minute, double-minor for high sticking Mike Mottau with 11:39 left in regulation.

Matt Carle's delay of game minor for putting the puck over the glass with 4:28 remaining afforded the Devils one more chance late in the third, but they were unable to convert.  

New Jersey suffered consecutive setbacks for the first time since Jan. 6 and 8, a span of 32 games. The club will have three days to rest up before visiting Chicago on Friday.

Shanahan's goal snapped a nine-game drought and gave the Devils the opening lead at 9:42.

Six seconds after Hartnell had exited the box for boarding Brian Gionta, Dainius Zubrus carried around the Philadelphia cage, and passed toward Shanahan at the top of the crease. The puck deflected into the net off Shanahan's right skate; a video review confirmed that no kicking motion was used.

Briere's eighth was the first of two straight Flyers goals on the power play. Timonen used a slap pass to get the puck to Briere for a redirection from the right side of the crease at 15:57.

Tied 1-1 after 20 minutes, the Flyers went ahead in the opening five minutes of the second.

Briere set up Mike Knuble's power-play marker to give Philadelphia its first lead. Knuble knocked the puck away from Langenbrunner in the slot, and got a cross-slot pass back from Briere to slip his 26th by Brodeur from the left circle at 4:45.

Brodeur's brilliant poke-check save on Carter's break at 9:28 preserved the one-goal deficit and paved the way for Langenbrunner's tying tally.

With the Flyers assessed a penalty for too many men, Brian Rolston's cross-slot pass for Travis Zajac was knocked down in traffic and found Langenbrunner in front. The captain buried his fourth power-play goal to make it 2-2 at 9:58.

Parise nearly got his 42nd on the Devils' fifth power play, when he curled off the right boards and snapped a shot that dribbled under Biron with 3:10 left in the second. The puck died just in front of the goal line, and Scott Hartnell knocked it away before Langenbrunner could get to the loose change.

Philadelphia broke the 2-2 tie 55 seconds into the third on Carter's goal. With four seconds left on the carryover time of Bryce Salvador's holding minor, Timonen's blast from the right point caromed off of Carter and through Brodeur.

Claude Giroux set up Gagne with a pass from behind the Devils' net, and Gagne scored shortside at 3:01.


NJD NOTES
Elias is second on the Devils' scoring list (30-47-77pts), while White is tied for second in plus-minus among New Jersey defensemen. ... Shanahan was back in the lineup after he was scratched from Sunday's game for maintainence. ... Brodeur made a strong save on Carter's shorthanded rush with 8:21 left in the game.