Devils Sweep On Road New Jersey Thumps Philly, Heads Home With 2-0 Lead

The New Jersey Devils are going home with a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference finals and a winning formula against the Philadelphia Flyers.

With Neal Broten, Bobby Holik and John MacLean scoring key goals, the Devils once again generated offense from good defense to beat Philadelphia 5-2 Monday night to complete a two-game sweep at the Spectrum.

The smothering defense has accomplished what Devils coach Jacques Lemaire wanted it to do: frustrate the Flyers.

“Who doesn’t get frustrated when you’re working hard and the other team is leading?” Lemaire said. “Everybody does. It’s normal.”

Broten and Holik scored 1:08 apart in the second period as the Devils scored four straight goals to continue their momentum in the best-of-7 conference finals.

The game-winner came early in the second period, with Broten scoring a power-play goal that snapped a 2-2 tie seconds after Devils defenseman Bruce Driver had foiled a Philadelphia 2-on-1 with a deft stick check.

Driver started the play back the other way, and it developed into a 3-on-2, with Broten scoring on a short shot that deflected in off the skate of Flyers defenseman Dmitri Yushkevich at 3:51.

“That’s something we’ve been trying to do all season, all playoffs,” Driver said. “We rely on the other team making some mistakes. That 2-on-1 quite easily could have been in our net.”

Broten’s goal seemed to distract the Flyers, who surrendered Holik’s goal a little more than a minute later following a scramble in their own end.

“Once we got that fourth goal and got up by two, we really buckled down and played really strong defensively,” Driver said.

The Devils, who have now won six straight playoff games, play the next two at home, beginning Wednesday night.

Broten scored after taking a back pass from Shawn Chambers, while Holik’s goal came after he got his own rebound and lifted a shot over fallen Flyers goaltender Ron Hextall.

Broten said the goal MacLean scored, which tied the game at 2-2 with 12 seconds left in the first period, was just as important as his.

“It was a big lift for us,” Broten said. “We continued on in the second period and get a big goal on the power play. Those two goals are key.”

The Flyers also said the MacLean goal deflated them, especially considering they played a solid first period.

“I was happy with the way we played until the end (of the period),” Flyers coach Terry Murray said. “We got rattled and we didn’t handle it with much poise.”

New Jersey’s Ken Daneyko made it 5-2 with 2:58 left in the second. His weak wrist shot from 35 feet beat Hextall between the legs, prompting Philadelphia to replace Hextall with Dominic Roussel.

Twice, the Flyers took a one-goal lead in the first period, and both times the Devils answered with power-play goals, the second coming with 12 seconds left in the period.

“We have to get off to a lead and keep it,” Philadelphia center Rod Brind’Amour said. “If we do that, they have to come out of their shell. Suddenly, they have to get going and do stuff. They are an inexperienced team with the lead.”

MacLean tied the game at 2 after Claude Lemieux threw a wrist shot toward the net from the right boards. The puck deflected off Flyers defenseman Kevin Haller’s stick, then was swatted in by MacLean as he stood in front of the net.

Mikael Renberg had put the Flyers up 2-1 with a power-play goal at 13:54.

New Jersey 5, Philadelphia 2

New Jersey 2 3 0 - 5 Philadelphia 2 0 0 - 2

First period-1, Philadelphia, Lindros 3 (Dineen, Desjardins), 7:08. 2, New Jersey, McKay 5 (Richer, Broten), 12:32 (pp). 3, Philadelphia, Renberg 4 (Lindros, LeClair), 13:54 (pp). 4, New Jersey, MacLean 3 (Lemieux, Stevens), 19:48 (pp).

Second period-5, New Jersey, Broten 4 (Chambers, Driver), 3:51 (pp). 6, New Jersey, Holik 3 (Peluso, McKay), 4:59. 7, New Jersey, Daneyko 1 (Richer, Lemieux), 17:07.

Third period-None.

Shots on goal-New Jersey 8-9-7-24. Philadelphia 9-6-5-20.Power-play opp.-New Jersey 3 of 5; Philadelphia 1 of 3.Goalies-New Jersey, Brodeur 10-2 (20 shots-18 saves). Philadelphia, Hextall 8-3 (15-11), Roussel (17:07 second, 9-9).A-17,380 (17,380).