Philadelphia – Patrik Elias, the Devils all-world veteran managed to pull off an amazing shootout goal to help his team get a 4-3 against the Philadelphia Flyers.

The first period was a bit sleepy and the ice seemed to be choppy. Then the Flyers took a 2-0 lead early in the second and the Devils could have been back on their heels but instead they got a great backhand goal by captain Zach Parise, just 51 seconds after the Flyers added to their lead. It made a statement and that gave his team and his linemates some jump.

“It’s huge, obviously coming off two losses we feel like we are playing the right way early but found ourselves down two-nothing, but our heads were still high on the bench and we knew that if we kept battling things would eventually go our way. We battled for a straight sixty-five minutes and won the shootout,” said Devils rookie, Adam Henrique, who was very well composed after the exciting win.

Almost three minutes later Henrique got his first NHL goal and his second point of the game to tie it up at 2-2 and that score held for the rest if the second period. The Devils pivot had an outstanding game and really likes his new linemates, Ilya Kovalchuk (who setup the youngster with a great pass after getting behind the Flyers defense) and Parise.

“It’s nice, it’s nice to get it off my back but getting the win is more important for us, we were in a little slump and we found a way to battle this one out.”

Hopefully we can get on a roll,” he said, and then he added. “Yeah, I think we were all more comfortable as a line, we didn’t play our best game last night. We found a way to keep it simple today, get pucks deep, get cycles going, and get pucks to the net. We found a way to battle it out.”

The Devils solid skating had the Flyers pressing at times and that meant turnovers, 18 in all. The Devils only had 8. They won a lot of little battles and a Flyers turnover by Matt Carle gave David Clarkson an opening and he backhanded the puck in the back of the net to tie the game at 13:25. That was the Flyers 15th giveaway in the game up to that point. The Flyers had the momentum of a Max Talbot penalty shot goal taken away and the Devils rode that momentum into the overtime period and eventually the shootout.

Flyers coach Peter Laviolette talked about that second period.

“Well the second period again, I’m not real happy with. We were slow to the puck slow to support the puck and I think turnovers played into it. The third period I thought was much more competitive from our guys. We went back and forth more and traded. New Jersey played a strong game. And I think I’ll look back and it will probably be the second period that stands out to me.”

Getting back to Henrique he logged 17:54, 1:40 on the power play and 1:56 on the kill. He was a +2 for the game and he was 42% on face-offs, not a bad night at all for the former Albany farmhand.

The Devils were smart to give the youngster a full season in the AHL. He played 73 games and had 50 points with 25 goals. Now he finds himself playing on the top line which means he’s going up against some of the best players in the league and he is certainly up to the task.

Ever since his Windsor Spitfires day Henrique has been an emerging complete player. His coach, Peter DeBoer, was very happy with his effort.

“Yeah, I thought they were outstanding tonight. They were clicking. Adam looked comfortable tonight, much more comfortable than last night. Coby could have had two or three goals himself and Zack works so hard every night that it was important for him to get one, too. Again, the guys are getting payoff for their work right now.” And then he said a bit more about his play.

“Skill level. He’s a highly talented kid. He paid his dues in the minors last year and was successful there. He’s not overwhelmed around those guys. He has the skill level to keep up with them in practice and stay with them. A lot of it is his personality. He’s not overwhelmed by the situation.”

The Devils are creeping up in the standings. Both teams will be back in action on Saturday. The Devils will play at home against Winnipeg and the Flyers host the Blue Jackets.