Devils down Flyers in overtime to lead series 2-1
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Alexei Ponikarovsky scored late in overtime to earn the New Jersey Devils a 4-3 home victory over the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday and a 2-1 lead in their Eastern Conference semi-final.
Left wing Ponikarovsky, who assisted in New Jersey's second goal of the game, struck with a backhanded shot on his own rebound with 2:39 remaining to put the Devils in control of the best-of-seven series.
Devils goal-tender Martin Brodeur produced a gritty performance with 25 saves to shade Philadelphia's Ilya Bryzgalov, who made 27 at the other end.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Matt Carle tied it for the Flyers in the second period before Zach Parise's wrist shot for the Devils in the third was matched by Philadelphia's Danny Briere, who chipped a rebound over Brodeur's pads, to take the game into overtime.
The Devils, who had scored four third-period goals to blow away the Flyers 4-1 on Tuesday to level the series, killed off two penalties in overtime and outshot the Flyers 31-28 in Game Three.
(Reporting by Mark Lamport-Stokes in Los Angeles; Editing by Ian Ransom)