updated 6:03 a.m. ET April 8, 2004

VOORHEES, N.J. - The chances of the Philadelphia Flyers beating the New Jersey Devils might not be so good if their first-round playoff series comes down to the goaltenders.

Martin Brodeur has led the defending champion Devils to three Stanley Cups since 1995. Robert Esche has never started a playoff game.

Still, the Atlantic Division champion Flyers are confident they can get past the sixth-seeded Devils when their Eastern Conference quarterfinal series begins Thursday night in Philadelphia.

“They’ve had their day in the sun. It’s our turn now,” Flyers coach Ken Hitchcock said Wednesday. “If there’s a team that’s going to knock them off, it might as well be us.”

Though Brodeur gives the Devils a major advantage, Esche had success against New Jersey this season. Esche outplayed Brodeur in his only two games against the Devils, allowing two goals in Philadelphia’s 3-1 victory on March 9 and a 2-1 victory four days later.

“I have a lot of respect for him, but I’m not going to put myself up against him because both teams play different,” Esche said.

Esche was 21-11-7 with three shutouts, a 2.04 goals-against average and a .915 save percentage in 40 games this season. He missed 11 games with a knee injury in February, and shared the goaltending duties early in the season with Jeff Hackett, who has since retired because of vertigo.

Esche beat out veteran Sean Burke for the starting job in the playoffs.

Brodeur, who led the league with 38 wins and 11 shutouts this season, has posted a 49-29 record in the playoffs over the last four years. He was 16-8 with seven shutouts and a 1.65 goals-against average in leading the Devils to the Cup last year.

“I don’t think he is going to make a difference for them on the downside,” Brodeur said of Esche. “He is going to give them a chance to win, hopefully like I do.”

After starting the season series 0-2-1, the Flyers won the last three games, outscoring New Jersey 9-3. Philadelphia had won just one of its previous eight games against the Devils before taking the last three.

Hitchcock said early in the season that his team had a psychological disadvantage against New Jersey. The Devils have been a nemesis for the Flyers for several years, beating them in the conference finals in 1995 and 2000.

“It helps a little bit that we had success against them,” forward John LeClair said. “We don’t have in the back of our mind that we can’t beat this team. You feel confident that you’re the better team and you know you can win the series.”

Both teams will be without top defensemen in this series. The Flyers lost Eric Desjardins for the playoffs after a metal plate protecting his injured right arm broke while he was playing catch with his son. The Devils are missing Scott Stevens, still battling post-concussion syndrome.

The Flyers are used to playing without Desjardins, who missed 32 games after breaking his right forearm Jan. 17.

“We’ve been through it without him and as much as we’d like to have him back because he’s a great player, we know we can get through it because we’ve already won without him,” forward Mark Recchi said.

The Flyers, eliminated in the second round by Ottawa last season, haven’t won a championship since taking consecutive Stanley Cups in 1974 and ‘75.

The Devils are trying to win back-to-back championships for the first time in team history, and become the first team to do it since Detroit in 1997 and ‘98. While they’ve usually relied on a strong defense to win titles, the Devils need their top line of Patrik Elias, Scott Gomez and Brian Gionta to provide a scoring lift and reduce the burden on Brodeur and others.

Elias had 38 goals, and Gomez led the league in scoring after the All-Star break with 41 points on nine goals and 32 assists.

“It’s a long road together,” Brodeur said. “A lot of teams have gotten better. It will be a big challenge for us to compete with these guys. We’re excited to start against the Flyers. We don’t need any motivation. The motivation is there right away.”

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