NHL Playoffs 2012 Video: Watch Ilya Bryzgalov 'Assist' on Series-Winning Goal

Barely two weeks removed from besting Marc-Andre Fleury in an anti-goaltenders duel against the Pittsburgh Penguins, Ilya Bryzgalov channeled a younger Fleury in the most mortifying manner possible during Tuesday night’s first period versus the New Jersey Devils in the 2012 Eastern Conference semifinals.

With his Philadelphia Flyers facing elimination and in a 1-1 tie in Game 5 of their series with the New Jersey Devils, Bryzgalov lassoed a loose puck from the comfort of his crease coming down on the five-minute mark of the third period. His knee-jerk objective was to promptly catapult it ahead to send his skating mates on a rolling breakout, something Devils counterpart Martin Brodeur has pulled off proficiently before.

As it happened, however, New Jersey forechecker David Clarkson swooped into Bryzgalov’s path and was within spitting distance of the goaltender when he discharged the puck. In turn, Clarkson earned a happenstance go-ahead strike as the biscuit banked off his stick and squirted home at the 12:45 mark of the period.

The resulting 2-1 New Jersey edge stuck through the first horn of the night, leaving only 40 minutes worth of sand in Philadelphia’s 2011-12 hourglass. From there, constant congestion by the Devils' skaters similar to Clarkson's effectively hastened the end in a 3-1 series-ending win for Pete DeBoer and his Devils.

Ironically, the first teammate to embrace Clarkson in wake of the gift-wrapped goal was Zach Parise, who once was a beneficiary of a similar blunder by Fleury. When Parise’s Americans engaged Fleury’s Canadians in the 2004 World Junior Championship final, the then-Pittsburgh rookie tried to lob the puck out of his own end with a 3-3 deadlock at hand.

Instead, it banked off of none other than Canada defenseman Braydon Coburn, now one of Bryzgalov’s praetorian guards with the Flyers, and trickled home. The "own goal" in the worlds, as it would have gone down in soccer terms, was credited to Patrick O’Sullivan and stood as the decider in Team USA’s 4-3 gold-medal victory.

Back in the present, Clarkson's strike would likewise stand as the clincher. New Jersey would finalize its five-game series triumph with an insurance power-play strike via Ilya Kovalchuk at 5:00 in the third period for a 3-1 upshot.