3-goal flurry helps Devils flog Flyers

Veteran Dainius Zubrus and rookie Rodney Pelley scored their first goals of the season in a three-goal flurry to help the New Jersey Devils beat the Philadelphia Flyers 4-1 on Thursday night.

Zubrus and Brian Gionta scored within 18 seconds of each other in the first period after spotting Philadelphia a 1-0 lead, and Zubrus scored again late in the period to give New Jersey a 3-1 lead.

Pelley's first NHL goal early in the second period sent Flyers goaltender Martin Biron to the bench. The last time the teams met on Oct. 18, Biron shut out the Devils 4-0.

The struggling Devils entered the game having won just two of their last eight games, but found their offensive rhythm and equaled their combined goals for the last three games with Pelley's score.

Martin Brodeur was barely tested by the Flyers, who were outshot by the Devils 30-8 through the first two periods and 39-14 overall.

Mike Knuble scored for the Flyers, who played without left winger Simon Gagne, scratched after complaining of dizziness and headaches stemming from a hit by Pittsburgh's Gary Roberts Wednesday night.

With New Jersey trailing 1-0 after Knuble's power-play goal, Gionta picked up a loose puck to the left of Biron and scored with 5:32 left in the period.

The puck went into the Flyers' end off the faceoff and, after a shot from between the circles by Jay Pandolfo, Zubrus stuffed the rebound past Biron with 5:14 left. He scored again with 29 seconds left in the period on a high wrister that hit Biron's shoulder and fell behind him.

The scoring burst began not long after the Devils heard boos from the sparse crowd at the new Prudential Center for wasting a four-minute power play with Philadelphia's Riley Cote off for high-sticking Patrik Elias and drawing blood from the face of the Devils forward.

New Jersey signed Zubrus in July to help fill the void created by Scott Gomez' departure to the New York Rangers, but the 11-year veteran had managed only six assists in the first 14 games.

Notes:@ Gagne missed four games earlier in the season with dizziness after a check by Florida's Jay Bouwmeester on Oct. 24 ... Philadelphia recalled forward Stefan Ruzicka from the Philadelphia Phantoms of the AHL ... Devils D Karel Rachunek returned after missing four games because of a groin injury ... Devils' Arron Asham and Flyers' Riley Cote squared off in the first period, with Asham absorbing some shots before scoring a clean takedown ... The Flyers fell to 7-1 this season when scoring first ... The crowd looked considerably smaller than the announced 14,948 in the Devils' fifth game of the season at the new Prudential Center.