PHILADELPHIA — The “therapy” that kept Ilya Kovalchuk out of the press’ witness box and off the team bus yesterday assuredly wasn’t the psychological sort. The oft-denied suspicion the Devils’ $100 Million Man is playing hurt has grown legs, which is what the speedster hasn’t shown much of lately.
Whether it’s a groin injury, a bruised foot, a back strain or a hip ailment, the Devils can only hope the treatment he received yesterday helps them avoid falling into an 0-2 series hole against the Flyers tonight.
Kovalchuk went without a shot in Sunday’s 4-3 overtime loss, his first shotless game of these playoffs. He did notch an assist, and stands 3-3-6, but minus-5 in the playoffs, minus-2 Sunday.
Devils coach Pete DeBoer was asked how Kovalchuk played Sunday.
“The answer to that is pretty clear, pretty obvious,” DeBoer said.
“It’s never for lack of effort with Kovy, Great players go through stretches where things aren’t working for them, then everything’s working for them. You have to work your way through it.”
Kovalchuk was separated from Zach Parise in the series opener. Kovalchuk’s apparent injury perhaps sheds a different light on that move.
The odd thing is that after the question of Kovalchuk’s health first arose in the last series, there he were on days off the ice, riding the stationary bike as if he was in the Tour de France, long, heavy workouts.
Healthy or not, Kovalchuk almost certainly will play tonight when the Devils try to avoid the 0-2 hole that has killed them 4-of-5 times. Their only such survival came in 1994, when Chris Terreri took over for Martin Brodeur, who dropped the first pair, won Game 6, and watched as Terreri won Game 7 of the second-round series against the Bruins.
That was the last time anyone other than Brodeur started a Devils playoff game, an NHL record streak that runs to 179 straight tonight.
This series opened the same way the Devils’ last two showdowns with the Flyers started — with losses that led to five-game eliminations, the Devils winning Game 2 in 2010, winning Game 3 in 2004.
That history is gloomy for the Devils, who will be desperate to avoid going down two.
“We want to show that we can win there,” defenseman Mark Fayne said. “Even the series out.
“You never want to be down 2-0. It’s a pretty big hole to dig yourself out,” Fayne said.
The Devils caught the Flyers rusty after a week off, scoring the opening goal, but they were outshot 23-7 over the second and third periods, and 7-4 in overtime.
Halting the orange onslaught is job one for New Jersey.
“When we get the puck in their zone, we have to find a way to hold on to it, take their skates away from them,” Ryan Carter said. “If they’re in their own end, they’re not running up and down the ice.
“It’s less of a track meet that way, and that’s to our advantage.”
The Devils have come quickly to the conclusion that the Flyers are the faster team. An injury to Kovalchuk doesn’t help that balance sheet.
* The Devils have lost the last four times they lost a series opener. They have lost their last three of those that opened on the road with losses. ... New Jersey stands 8-4 in Game 2s after losing the opener on the road, but is 6-7 in those series. The Devils have lost 5-of-6 road series from an 0-1 hole, despite going 3-3 in those Game 2s.
mark.everson@nypost.com
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