Saturday night and it’s Jersey Devils time again. The Flyers smoked ’em last week in Philly so the Devils would have surely loved to return the favor in front of their hometown fans.
I expected to see the Devils start this tilt with a little more enthusiasm. The Flyers dominated the first half of the opening period outshooting the Devils 6-1 in the first ten minutes.
The Flyers had their 1st powerplay but Jersey killed it pretty effectively. Back at even strength a nice passing play got the Flyers on the board. Zegras to Dvorak, Dvorak to Tippett in front. Owen Tippett made the quick move and beat Jacob Markstrom 5:18 into the contest. 1-0 Flyers.
New Jersey tied the game at one on a slapshot through a screen by Simon Nemec at 12:09. The goal put some fire under the Devils. At that point they picked up the pace, and started creating some quality scoring chances.
Dan Vladar
Flyers goaltender Dan Vladar was super solid during Jersey’s resurgence. Matvei Michkov took a penalty with 1:15 left in the period. The Devils had not one but two “dead to rights” side to side chances that Vladar gobbled up as time ran out.
The 2nd period started with the Devils enjoying the scraps of their powerplay time. The Flyers killed the remaining 45 seconds and took advantage of Michkov jumping out of the box.
Matvei Michkov
Travis Konecny hit MM with a pass springing him in alone on Markstrom. Michkov pushed the puck five hole and was shoved into the goaltender as the puck slowly crossed the line just 53 seconds into the period. Jersey considered the challenge momentarily then wisely declined. 2-1 Flyers
The Flyers have been making a big beautiful habit of scoring some rapid fire goals lately and tonight was no exception. Just 2:23 after the Michkov goal Travis Konecny fired a shot from the slot that went in off of Michkov’s pants. This opportunity stemmed from the Flyers putting in a ton of hard work along the boards in the Devils zone. 3-1 Flyers.
An explosive turn of events led to yet another Flyers goal at 13:03. A loose puck turned into a breakaway for Jersey’s Jesper Bratt. Bratt’s shot rang off the post and play immediately broke to the other end of the ice.
Owen Tippett and Trevor Zegras quickly stormed into the Devils zone on the odd man rush. Tippett made the cross-slot pass to Zegras who ripped the shot through the glove of Jacob Markstrom. 4-1 Flyers.
The Flyers ended up on a powerplay after Sean Couturiere totally mugged Brenden Dillon. Coots took him out with a hit that clearly could have been called for interference. Then he slashed Dillon’s stick in half. Coots pleaded innocence as Dillon blew his stack. They got matching crosschecking penalties? And Dillon got an extra two for being unsportsmanlike.
The Devils had another “dead to rights” chance against Vladar shorthanded. Hischier and Mercer broke in 2-on-1. New Jersey has had the right idea all night. Keep Vladar moving side to side. They were setting things up perfectly. Vladar was just remarkable in his lateral game tonight. Getting from side to side, staying with the puck, and making the big saves. Unreal.
Jersey continued to attack and scored a powerplay goal with just 25.5 left in the second period. They kept plugging away and Timo Meier finally put a rebound behind Vladar to end the period 4-2 in the Flyers favor.
Credit where credit is due
Play was wide open as the 3rd period got underway. Back and forth, up and down, until Dawson Mercer scored an absolute highlight reel goal. He stripped Zegras of the puck in the Flyers zone taking him down to the ice. Mercer continued snapping ankles all the way to the net leaving a trail of fallen Flyers behind him. Seeler, Zamula, and finally Vladar. 4-3 Flyers.
You must aquit
With 7:07 left in regulation Captain Coots got away with another one. He went to lift Luke Hughes’s stick so he’s moving his own stick with force in an upward motion and missed. His stick hit Hughes square in the chops. The on ice officials met for a conference to discuss as Hughes made his way up the tunnel and the Devils fans went nuts. Apparently no one saw it. Coots got off scot-free.
Cam York paid for the miscall getting a slashing penalty for the tiniest of taps behind the net. Make-up call with 6:44 remaining. The Devils were swarming with the man advantage. Dan Vladar had to come up big again and again. Which he did.
Don’t let the final score fool you, this was a goaltender’s battle. Fine performances at both ends of the ice. By the end of the match both teams had more than 30 shots on goal.
Two minute warning
With two minutes remaining the Devils were buzzing once again in the Flyers zone and you have to wonder why they didn’t pull their goalie at that point. They had the Flyers bottled up in their own end, the extra attacker could have been just what they needed to get the tying goal.
Instead they waited until the final minute to get the extra skater on the ice. At that point the pressure was off. The Flyers quickly got control of the puck and Owen Tippett appeared to be off on a breakaway from center ice when he was tripped up and pushed off the puck. The play was whistled dead and Tippett was awarded the goal. Tippett had a three point night. 5-3 Flyers.
The Rule
Normally a player who is tripped on a breakaway would be awarded a penalty shot, but since there was no goaltender in the net the Flyer were awarded the goal.
This game was an absolute nail biter. Both teams were playing so well offensively. Chance after chance at both ends of the ice met with outstanding goaltending. This game was a real treat to watch. The final score of 5-3 in favor of the Orange and Black made it all that much more enjoyable. All around great hockey game!
Extra Credit: This was the Devils first regulation loss at home this season. The Devils hang onto 1st place in the division but as of the final horn the Flyers are now just two points behind them. How’s about that?
Up next Flyers host the Penguins in Philly 7:00 PM opening faceoff.
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