Devils Blast Flyers In Overtime

Bobby Holik has no plans of pulling a disappearing act in the playoffs this year for New Jersey.

Breaking a goal-scoring slump, Holik scored his second goal of the game with 1:33 left in overtime Friday night to give the Devils a 3-2 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers.

The win moved the Devils one point ahead of Ottawa in the race for the top seed in the Eastern Conference and both teams finish the regular season Saturday.

"I've been working all year because as a competitive player you don't want to end up the way I did last year," said Holik, who led the Devils with 29 regular season goals last season and then failed to score even a point in an opening round playoff series loss to Ottawa.

"It wasn't a tragedy," Holik added. "It wasn't a life and death situation, but it was a lesson to be learned from."

Holik said he has paced himself a little more this season and he feels fresh on the eve of the postseason, even though he had only one goal in his last 21 games.

Devils coach Robbie Ftorek said the physical nature of the game benefited Holik.

"When they play that way, that's when they play their best," Ftorek said of Holik's line. "Bobby was skating and he was being himself tonight and he reaped the benefits. He was using his speed and his shot. That's how Bobby plays when he plays well."

Brian Rolston also scored as New Jersey won for the fourth time in five games and extended its dominance of Atlantic Division foes to 15-4-1.

Keith Jones and Mikael Renberg scored for the Flyers, whose three-game (2-0-1) unbeaten streak was snapped. Philadelphia had rallied from a 2-0 deficit to force the overtime.

Holik's game-winner was set up when the puck bounced over the stick of Flyers defenseman Chris Therien at the Philadelphia blue line. Holik collected the puck and beat John Vanbiesbrouck between the pads with a shot from te right circle.

"It was coming right to my stick, it took kind of a weird bounce on an angle," Therien said. "I took a swing at it, but it kind of took a funny bounce and bounced over it. That was frustrating."

Flyers coach Roger Neilson wasn't very disappointed after the loss.

"We seem to be getting stronger every game as we get near the playoffs," Neilson said. "That's our aim right now."

Chris Terreri, making a rare start in goal, had kept New Jersey in the game with a great glove save on Marc Bureau 45 seconds into the overtime. He finished with 27 saves.

Trailing 2-0 late in the second period, the Flyers tied the game on Jones' unassisted goal and Renberg's 15th of the season.

Jones got his 20th of the season on a shot from the right point with 2:37 left in the second period. Terreri was either screened by Ken Daneyko or the puck deflected off the Devils' defenseman.

Renberg's goal at 6:38 of the third period came just seconds after a penalty to Bureau expired. As he was coming out of the penalty box, the puck jumped over the stick of Brendan Morrison at the right point, setting up an odd-man rush on which Rod Brind'Amour fed Renberg right in front.

Rolston had given the Devils a 1-0 lead at 12:47 of the first period with a slapshot from just a stride inside the blue line. It was his 23rd goal of the season and fourth in five games.

Holik extended the lead to 2-0 with a power-play goal at 10:44 of the second period. Lyle Odelein, who had started the rush on Rolston's goal, rolled the puck into the crease and Holik tapped in the rebound of shot by Randy McKay for his 25th goal.

©1999 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed