They scored first, getting a power-play goal from Kovalchuk only 3:02 into the game, and led 2-1 after the first period, but were thoroughly outplayed in the second and all but the last two minutes of the third. Goaltender Johan Hedberg held the Devils in the game in a second, in which they were outshot 14-4.
Rookie goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky’s stick save on Kovlachuk’s breakaway effort with 6:37 left in the second loomed large after the Flyers scored twice in the opening 8:07 of the third.