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What Bettors Need to Know: Tuesday's NHL Action
By Covers.com

New Jersey Devils at Philadelphia Flyers (-150, 5.5)

THE STORY: Something about postseason hockey brings out the best in Danny Briere. The veteran winger scored the overtime winner in Game 1 of Philadelphia's Eastern Conference semifinal against New Jersey, giving the Flyers a leg up heading into Tuesday's second game at Wells Fargo Center. The Devils look to bounce back after hanging with the Flyers for most of the contest.

ABOUT THE DEVILS: New Jersey made its share of mistakes in Game 1, but head coach Peter DeBoer was still upbeat about his team's performance. "I think we deserved to be in the hockey game," he said. "We dominated the first period and could have had two or three goals. They took over the second and the third was relatively even." The Devils will almost certainly need more out of skilled winger Ilya Kovalchuk, who was held without a shot in the opener and gave the puck away more than once in the loss. Kovalchuk answered questions after the game, but bolted after being asked if he was healthy.

ABOUT THE FLYERS: Claude Giroux has been far and away the best player in the postseason so far, but Briere isn't far off. He scored twice in Game 1 and now has seven goals in seven playoff games after scoring just 16 in 70 regular-season contests. Briere actually had a goal disallowed earlier in the extra session, and was still upset about it afterward. "When I was on the bench there, there's a few seconds where you're shaking your head and you're going, 'Come on, they made the wrong call. I can't believe this is happening,'" he said. "Then I was like, 'All right, it's time to stop pouting.' I was fortunate to have another break."

TRENDS:
- New Jersey is 3-13 in its last 16 games in Philadelphia.
- Philadelphia has won four of its last five home games.
- The over is 10-3-1 in Philadelphia's last 14.

OVERTIME:

1. Briere has scored 36 playoff goals since leaving the Buffalo Sabres in 2007. The Sabres as a team have just 33 postseason goals in that span.

2. Philadelphia has the best power play in the playoffs - converting on 44.8 percent of its chances - but went just 1 for 6 against the Devils, who posted the best regular-season penalty-killing rate in modern NHL history.

3. Kovalchuk has three goals and three assists in eight playoff games but is a team-worst minus-5.