It's getting down to desperate times for the Devils. Having scored just six goals in their last four, GM/Coach Lou Lamoriello opted to break up the EGG line in an attempt to create more offense. Splitting up his best combo, Lamoriello reunited rookie Zach Parise with Scott Gomez and Brian Gionta while moving Patrik Elias to a second line with Sergei Brylin and recently scratched Viktor Kozlov.
With Kozlov back after missing the last two games, Cam Janssen sat out while Grant Marshall slid down to the fourth line with Erik Rasmussen and Jason Wiemer. The one line which remained intact was the checking line of Jay Pandolfo, John Madden and Jamie Langenbrunner.
Though they played with more vigor and had plenty of chances to comeback from two goals down against the Flyers, it wasn't enough in a 2-1 loss Tuesday night at Wachovia Center. Antero Niittymaki made 21 saves and Peter Forsberg had a goal and assist to put the Flyers two points behind the Atlantic Division-leading Rangers with a pivotal game at MSG tonight.
Meanwhile, the slumping Devils have lost four of five and now are separated by just three points from ninth place Montreal, who fell to the Isles 3-1. While that took place, the suddenly sizzling Thrashers rallied from two goals down to win 5-4 in a shootout over Boston, jumping past Montreal and pulling within two points of the seventh place Devils. It makes their next game at Atlanta Thursday even more vital with only 14 games remaining while the Thrashers have one less game left.
The Devils got off to another slow start when Mike Knuble and Forsberg combined to setup Simon Gagne for his 40th of the season just 1:49 in, making it the fifth consecutive game an opponent scored first.
On a power play, the Flyers nearly went up two but Forsberg's backhand sailed through the crease and Petr Nedved's wrister drew iron. Late in the period, a Denis Gauthier elbow to Jay Pandolfo's back went undetected drawing the ire of the Devils. Especially Martin Brodeur. With a questionable call going against his team earlier, Brodeur's protests were understandable.
When Gionta was whistled for back-to-back penalties in the second, the Flyers increased their lead to two when Forsberg stuffed in a loose puck at the doorstep for his 18th at 6:54 from Knuble and Freddy Meyer IV. On a broken play, Meyer's point shot deflected off Knuble right to Forsberg for the tap-in.
From that point on, New Jersey carried the play to the Flyers and had several glorious chances to cut the margin in half but were stoned by Niittymaki. On one shift, he denied Parise twice and robbed Gionta on the doorstep.
After Brodeur made a key stop on Donald Brashear, Niitymaki came up with his best save of the night on Pandolfo. After stopping a Pandolfo backhand, the rookie goalie made a glove save on a Pandolfo rebound from in close to keep his team ahead 2-0 entering the third.
"He played great," Pandolfo told the AP. "He was the difference."
But after they outshot the Flyers 11-8 in the second, they kept coming and finally got back in the game when leading scorer Brian Gionta tallied his 37th to make it 2-1 at 3:55. Setup by Paul Martin, Gionta walked in and beat Niittymaki with a low wrist shot.
Though they continued to get the better chances, they forced Niittymaki to make just five more saves. Awarded a power play with 3:43 remaining, the Devils only got a harmless wrister from Elias from the outside which was easily gloved by Niittymaki with 3:07 left. Summing up a frustrating night, it was the last chance they had.
"You just keep working," Lamoriello said. "You can't look back. I'm not worried about them pressing offensively. We know what we have to do."
They better do it soon.
Notes: In 16:45 of ice-time playing with Gomez and Gionta, Parise finished with a game high seven shots and a plus-one rating. ... In his 30th consecutive start, Brodeur turned aside 19 of 21 shots. ... Devils were 0-for-4 on the power play. ... Wearing a brace, Forsberg returned after missing Saturday's game against Atlanta with a mildy sprained knee. ... Gagne became the first Flyer to score 40 since John LeClair did it in '99-00. ... Flyers defeated the Devils for fifth straight time at home. ... Devils (34-26-8, 76 pts), are at Atlanta (34-29-6, 74 pts) Thursday for the final regular season meeting this season. Devils are 0-2-1 thus far.
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