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On Wednesday night the Flyers (23-22-6) took a bus ride to New Jersey to take on the Devils (28-16-6) for the third time this season. The Flyers have taken the first two games of the season series and looked to keep the momentum going. Sam Ersson got the start in the net for the Flyers and Jake Allen got the start for the Devils. The level of physicality for this match-up was expected to be amped up considering the last time these two teams met, a big hit from Nick Seeler on Devils’ Nathan Bastian sent Bastian down the tunnel and off the ice.
First Period
Both teams came out and made it clear from puck drop that this game was going to have an increased level of physicality. An early tripping penalty to Tomas Tatar gave the Flyers their first power play opportunity of the game. The Flyers would waste the opportunity and the game remained scoreless.
A hooking call on Morgan Frost with 32 seconds left in the first period gave the Devils and their number-two-ranked power play their first opportunity of the night. The Flyers nearly gave up a goal in the closing seconds of the period, but Sam Ersson made stops to keep the game scoreless after the first period.
Second Period
Just 54 seconds into the period the Devils would strike on the power play thanks to a goal from Ondrej Palat, his 11th on the season gave the Devils a 1-0 lead.
Shortly after a huge open ice hit from Devils’ Brenden Dillon on Owen Tippett, sent Tippett to the locker room as the intensity was turned up. Both teams would take penalties shortly after with the Flyers spoiling their second power play opportunity.
At 13:33 a 2-on-1 lead by the Hughes brothers set up the Devils as Luke Hughes would ring one past Ersson giving the Devils a 2-0 lead. It’s Luke Hughes’ fourth goal of the season and helped put the Devils in the driver’s seat.
The physicality continued as more scrums ensured after each whistle. With 12:54 left six minor penalties were handed out between both teams. Play continued at 5 on 5 until Stefan Noesen committed a penalty on Travis Sanheim setting the Flyers up on their third power play opportunity.
The Flyers would waste the opportunity as the score remained 2-0 thanks to some huge saves by Ersson. A hooking penalty to Sean Couturier would set the Devils up with their second power play opportunity of the game. The Devils’ power play stayed hot as a goal by Nathan Bastian extended the Devils’ lead 3-0. Bastion’s third goal of the season. The Devils would quickly strike again as Dawson Mercer netted his 13th of the season and put the Devils up 4-0.
The Flyers got outscored 4-0 in the period and were dominated by the Devils. Sam Ersson was pulled although he played well regardless of the score. When you give the number two powerplay unit in the league multiple opportunities they are going to score.
Third Period
The sloppy play of the second period carried over into the third. Just 1:58 into the period Jack Hughes got in on the party netting his 20th goal of the season and giving the Devils a 5-0 lead.
The Flyers just played survival the rest of the game generating no offense and no constant pressure. Down a man due to the injury to Owen Tippett, the Flyers seemed to have the white flag in the 3rd period.
Ivan Fedotov replaced Ersson in net and played well in the third period. That was about the only bright spot for the Flyers in the third.
The Devils would go on to win 5-0, dominating the Flyers in all facets of the game.
Hot and Cold
Following the disappointing loss the Flyers now sit a 23-23-6 but are still only three points out of a playoff spot. They have been inconsistent up until this point of the season. When they string together a few good games they come out and get dominated. We are stuck in the limbo of winning two games and losing two games, and the cycle has continued so far this season.
The power play continues to be horrid as I’m beginning to wonder what exactly the Flyers have been doing to try and improve their power play. They can’t even establish pressure in the offensive zone when they are up a man. It has been two years of this system not working and yet no changes have been made. You can not expect to win consistently when the powerplay is ranked 28th in the league.
The Flyers need to shake this one off quickly as they play again tonight at 7:30 against the Islanders in Philadelphia. The game is only available on ESPN+/Hulu/Disney+ for those who will be tuning in.
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