Devils 3 – Flyers 3
PHILADELPHIA – If the Devils miss Alexander Mogilny this much, they’ll be in even deeper trouble when Bobby Holik leaves.
That situation may be the bigger one GM Lou Lamoriello should be addressing now, even as he shops for another scorer.
Holik wins faceoffs when no one else does, checks the top opponents. Big in big games and tough in tough ones, last night he was leading the Devils he will leave by summer.
Flyer games are the gut-checks, and there was Holik, scoring twice, including the tying goal with 3:22 left, to give the Devils a 3-3 draw and snap New Jersey’s four-game losing streak.
“Definitely, I felt very responsible for picking this team up,” said Holik, who has scored three of the Devils’ four goals in their last three games.
“I’m not going to start giving speeches because talk is cheap. You have to do it on the ice.”
Nothing has changed in his stance that he will test the market this summer, and nothing has changed in the way he plays.
Although they are still winless in six (0-3-2-1), the Devils believed last night’s comeback tie was a step in the right direction to start a five-game road trip. They outshot the Flyers 45-17, yet had to overcome a two-goal deficit for a point.
“We can’t play a much better game than we did,” coach Larry Robinson said.
Holik opened the scoring 11:51 into play from the edge of the crease after Randy McKay centered from behind the net. That lone Devil lead lasted only 33 seconds. Scott Gomez failed on an easy chance to clear the zone, leading to John LeClair’s left-wing flub that fell into the slot for Justin Williams’ fifth.
The Flyers took the lead at 18:44 of the first by capitalizing on another Devil blunder. Brian Rafalski squibbed his D-to-D pass, Williams pounced and left a drop that LeClair blasted over Martin Brodeur’s stick. LeClair made it 3-1 at 7:12 of the second with his second goal of the game and 11th the season.
The Devil comeback began when Patrik Elias’ centering pass from behind the goal line went in off Roman Cechmanek for his 12th at 15:54 of the second.
With 3:22 left in regulation Holik forced the Devils’ fourth straight road OT. Holik beat Keith Primeau on an offensive faceoff and Scott Niedermayer’s point shot was blocked. In the slot, his back to the net, Holik corralled the puck and spun, sweeping in his second of the night and eighth of the year.
