It’s a Devil of a Quick Overtime

New Jersey forward Dave Andreychuk scored 78 seconds into overtime, capping a mad scramble in front of Philadelphia goaltender Ron Hextall to give the Devils a 5-4 victory over the Flyers on Thursday at Philadelphia.

New Jersey rallied from a 4-1 deficit to extend its season-best unbeaten streak to six games (4-0-2). More importantly, the Devils took a six-point lead over second-place Philadelphia in the Atlantic Division.

“They had a couple of chances to get it out and we were able to keep it in,” Andreychuk said. “At that point, you’re just trying to get a shot on goal. We could have ended this game three or four times before the puck finally went in.”

Eric Lindros had two goals for the Flyers but was not pleased with his team’s effort.

“We were absolutely horrible,” Lindros said. “When you’re up, 4-1, you’ve got to close the deal. And we didn’t.”

The Devils, 2-1-1 against Philadelphia this season, improved the league’s best road record to 10-4. New Jersey was 4-0-1 against the Flyers last year.

“We’re going to look back on this game for the rest of the year,” said Andreychuk, who scored his 10th goal on the Devils’ fifth shot of overtime. “We can come back on teams because we can score goals.”

Nashville 2, San Jose 1--Former King Vitali Yachmenev scored with 8:15 remaining and goaltender Tomas Vokoun won his first NHL game in the Predators’ victory at Nashville.

Yachmenev got his second goal of the season on a screened shot from the left circle to break a 1-1 tie. Vokoun, Nashville’s third-string goalie, made 34 saves to give the Predators their first victory in five games.

Both Yachmenev and Vokoun have played most of the season with the Predators’ International Hockey League affiliate in Milwaukee.

“They came up huge,” Nashville veteran Cliff Ronning said of Vokoun and Yachmenev. “It’s an opportunity for a lot of guys to really show what they’ve got.”

Boston 3, Carolina 2--Tim Taylor scored his first goal of the season with 2:48 remaining at Greensboro, N.C., as the Bruins extended their unbeaten streak to eight games.

“I thought we battled back,” Boston Coach Pat Burns said. “I thought the players battled back. The last couple of seconds were really tough because I only had one natural centerman.”

Dmitri Khristich and P.J. Axelsson also scored for Boston, which is enjoying its longest unbeaten streak since going 8-0-1 in 1989.

Bruin goaltender Byron Dafoe improved to 4-0-1 in his last five starts and has given up only five goals over that span.