Devils win in OT, lead Flyers 2-1

NEWARK, New Jersey (AP) New Jersey's Alexei Ponikarovsky scored on his own rebound in overtime to give the Devils a 4-3 win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday and a 2-1 lead in the NHL Eastern Conference semifinal.

Patrik Elias, Ilya Kovalchuk and Zach Parise also scored for the Devils, who killed two penalties in overtime before Ponikarovsky came through with his first goal of the postseason on a backhander that sneaked past Ilya Bryzgalov.

Martin Brodeur made 25 saves for New Jersey. Game 4 is Sunday in New Jersey.

Kovalchuk, who missed Game 2 with a lower body injury, also had two assists in his return, including one on the game winner.

Danny Briere, Matt Carle and Brayden Schenn scored for the Flyers. Bryzgalov had 27 saves.

In Los Angeles, Drew Doughty had a goal and two assists to help Los Angeles to a victory that put it on the brink of place in the Western Conference final, holding a 3-0 series lead over St. Louis.

Jonathan Quick made 18 saves for the eighth-seeded Kings, who improved to 7-1 in this postseason with a third-straight dominant win over the second-seeded Blues.

Mike Richards scored the Kings' first power-play goal in six games before setting up Doughty's clinching goal with 11:48 to play.

Justin Williams and rookie Dwight King also scored for Los Angeles, while Anze Kopitar had two assists.

Chris Stewart scored twice and Brian Elliott stopped 18 shots in a shaky performance for the Blues, who must accomplish just the fourth comeback from an 0-3 deficit in NHL playoff history to advance.

The Kings can clinch their first conference finals berth in 19 years by winning Game 4 on Sunday.

Updated May 4, 2012