If the Devils are to beat the Flyers in this series, their penalty-killing must be better than it was against the Florida Panthers.



So far that has been the case.



In the first two games against Philadelphia, the Devils have killed off 10 of 11 Flyers power plays. The Panthers' power play went 9-for-27.



"You've got to give Florida credit. They found a way early in that series to poke some holes in our PK and we struggled with a little bit of confidence for a few of those games," coach Pete DeBoer said today. "We've got it back on track where we want it right now and we have to continue that."



What has been the difference?



"Maybe just regrouping a little bit," Zach Parise, a relentless penalty-killer, said. "One of the biggest things is we've done a better job on faceoffs. It's so important when you win that initial draw and you get that initial clear. Right away there are 10-15 seconds off the draw… I think that's one of our strengths, not allowing teams to set up."



DeBoer said the PK was the key in Game 2.



"I thought our PK, like it was duirng the regular season, was a factor in the game," he said. "It took away their momentum and created momentum for us. There was a real confidence level on the bench and for the guys in those roles that we weren't going to get scored on. That's a good feeling and a feeling we had most of the year."

* * *

Adam Larsson became the second defenseman in Devils history to score a goal in his playoff debut. The first was Craig Wolanin.



However, Wolanin did not have to sit out eight playoff games before getting into the lineup in 1988. Larsson was scratched from all seven games against Florida and Game 1 against the Flyers.

MORE COVERAGE OF DEVILS HOCKEY

• Devils stories and columns

• Devils photos

• Devils videos

• Devils' coach Pete DeBoer: Pressure is on the Flyers

• Devils' penalty-killing is much improved against Flyers

• Travis Zajac's season almost ended early but he's now Devils' leading scorer in postseason

“I think our assistant coaches get full marks for that. Mike Vasalani, our strength and conditioning coach, Larry Robinson, Dave Barr, Adam Oates. They work with them on a daily basis, making sure they’re ready when we need them to jump into the lineup. It’s not an easy job. From a player’s perspective, it’s thankless work. You’re coming in and you’re not involved in the outcomes of games. There are a lot of hours put in there. I thought the kid handled that exceptionally well and got rewarded for that by being ready to play in a tough game in a tough environment.”

DeBoer said Larsson earned the right to play in Game 3.

“I think so,” the coach said. “He jumped in, scored a goal, gave us some good minutes, played well and was physical. Regardless of the goal, he was involved physically. He was very solid. Tough to take a guy out. For young players, you want to make it so the coach has a hard time or can’t take you out of the lineup.”

* * *

After the Flyers practiced today in Vorhees, goalie Ilya Bryzgalov was asked what he would've been had he not been a hockey goalie.



"Astronaut," he told reporters.



When pressed, Bryzgalov said: "No, seriously."



Bryzgalov offered his views of the American and Soviet space programs, mentioning that the first two animals sent into space were Russian dogs. He also said too many monkeys had been sent into space and did not survive, before adding: "The problem with monkeys is they push the wrong buttons."



DeBoer has pushed the right buttons in the playoffs so far, but he hasn't been able to enjoy them.



"(It's) definitely stressful. I don't think you enjoy this when you're in the middle of it. You're getting ready for the next game. You're looking at film, trying to see what areas worked and what didn't, what you want to improve. You're in the heat of the moment.

“My history with any kind of good runs is you don’t look back with any kind of enjoyment or appreciation until long after they are done.”

* * *

Parise said the Devils can continue to play well without Ilya Kovalchuk.



"I think we plan on it," Parise said. "I thought we played a great game, but we have to play even better (today). We all expect Philly, with how good of a team they are, to have one of their best games. We have to make sure we're ready to respond to that with or without Kovy. We have to do what works for us and what makes us win games."

The Devils' captain commented about scoring first.

“The first goal is always important, but in every series it just looks like not a lead of leads are safe," he said. "Even us being down, 1-0, early in a really hard building, we liked the way we were playing. We felt if we kept playing that same way we were going to get more chances and onbe would go in. Finally we ended up getting one past (Ilya) Bryzgalov. He was having a great game.”

Parise on playing a wide open game against the Flyers: “It doesn’t benefit us to exchange rushes with them. They have a lot of guys that can put the puck in the net. I thyink our forwards did a good job back checking last game and not giving up odd-man rushes, making it tough for them to generate offense. It was a good team game. If we want to win this series, that’s how we have to play.”

On winning two in a row: “That was a little bit of a challenge for us in the first series. We’d have one great game and then one game where we didn’t follow it up. We talked about that.”

On playing at home: “Seems like it’s been a while. We love playing here. We really need a lot of support from the crowd and they’ve done a great job.”

Parise was asked if he planned to take in the Bruce Springsteen concert at the Prudential Center.

“No. No. Trying to get me in trouble here?”

When it was suggested jokingly GM Lou Lamoriello was going, Parise said: “He’s not playing tomorrow.”

* * *

Goalie Martin Brodeur on the series being tied, 1-1: “It feels good. We worked really hard to get into that position. We felt pretty good about the way we executed our system and it turned out to be a good one for us.”

On Game 3: "We know Philly is going to come out ready to play. You listen to their comments and they're going to fix the issues they felt they didn't do a good enough job in. For us it's got to be not only to match our level of last game but to find a way to raise it. Because they're going to raise theirs.



"I know this is going to get a lot tougher. Our players know that and we have to be ready for it."



Flyers coach Peter Laviolette said after Game 2 that the difference was the Devils skated better than his team.

DeBoer said: “I think you get to this point in the year and a lot of games are decided on puck battle, will, races, 50/50 pucks, the technical part of the game. It comes down to will and battles on any given night. I think they did a better job in Game 1 than we did in the second and third period. And we did a better job in the second and third period than they did last night.”