Brodeur, Devils eliminate Flyers with 3-1 win

One of the game's all-time greats, the veteran goaltender has a chance to do it again.

Bryce Salvador, David Clarkson and Ilya Kovalchuk scored goals to lift New Jersey to a 3-1 Game 5 win over the Flyers on Tuesday night, sending the Devils into the conference championship round for the first time since 2003.

The Devils await the winner of the New York-Washington series, which the Rangers lead, 3-2. New Jersey rebounded this season under coach Peter DeBoer in his first season on the Devils' bench after the franchise suffered one of its worst years since general manager Lou Lamoriello took over in 1987.

Brodeur, who turned 40 this series, had 27 saves and the Devils hope they can ride him all the way to June like they did in their three previous championship runs.

"I think we deserved it," Brodeur said. "We played really hard this series, we survived a few scares in the first series. So it's nice that we finished this off."

The sixth-seeded Devils scored twice in the first period and became the first East team to win four straight games in these playoffs. They missed the playoffs last year for the first time since 1996. They knocked off Florida in the first round and had an easier time than expected eliminating the Flyers.

"It was just sticking with the game plan and doing what it takes to be successful," DeBoer said. "Marty made some saves when he needed to, and we held on."

Brodeur has gone from answering questions about retirement to ones about another chase for the Cup. He has been in net for all three of New Jersey's titles, including 2003, the franchise's last one.

"I don't think he was ever a guy that was going to retire," Clarkson said. "He's won us some games in the playoffs. He's held us in. He's exciting to watch."

The Devils have won six of seven and believe they have another title run in them. This is the third time in franchise history New Jersey has defeated Philadelphia in the postseason. The previous two times (1995 and 2000), the Devils went on to win the Stanley Cup.

Max Talbot scored for the Flyers, but Philadelphia was eliminated in the conference semifinals for the second straight season. The Flyers finished the season without suspended All-Star forward Claude Giroux because of his illegal check to the head on New Jersey center Dainius Zubrus in Game 4.

"It should have been a tighter series," Giroux said, wearing a suit.

The Flyers underwent a facelift last summer that saw them trade team captain Mike Richards to the Los Angeles Kings and acquire goalie Ilya Bryzgalov from the Phoenix Coyotes.

The Kings and Coyotes will play in the West finals while the Flyers watch from home.

The Flyers again failed in the postseason to hold a quick lead after Talbot scored in the first. Meanwhile, the Devils survived a rugged series of hits unleashed by a frustrated Flyers team that failed to build anything off the surprising first-round victory over Pittsburgh. Anton Volchenkov, Marek Zidlicky and Zubrus all suffered punishing hits that knocked them to the ice in Game 5.

Bryzgalov had a disheartening end to an erratic first season in Philadelphia. He allowed two YouTube-worthy goals like only he can. Salvador unleashed a shot from outside the circle that skipped along the ice as if he threw a rock across a pond and sailed high over Bryzgalov for the tying goal.