The New Jersey Devils have a strong team together this season. They are currently sitting just two points out of 2nd place in the Metropolitan Division. Flyers head coach John Tortorella was not hesitant to say as much at the morning skate earlier today. The Flyers knew they had their work cut out for them coming into this match-up.
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The Devils are missing both their leading goal scorer in Nico Hircheir and their starting goaltender Jacob Markstrom. Markstrom is not expected back for 4 to 6 weeks. That being said backup goaltender Jake Allen played a fantastic game for the Devils tonight. The Flyers may have run away with the score if not for Allen’s stellar performance.
Philly vs New Jersey
The Flyers faced a challenge 3:50 into the game when Rasmus Ristolainen took a four minute double minor for high-sticking Ondrej Palat. The Flyers passed the test with flying colors. They effectively neutralized the Jersey power-play while creating chances of their own. Scott Laughton and Garnet Hathaway had the two best chances of the entire four minute stretch.
Power Play
The Flyers got their first man advantage and capitalized just six seconds into the power-play. Ristolainen nonchalantly teed up the puck for Bobby Brink at the point. Brink fired a one time laser hitting the top far corner of the net 11:04 into the opening period.
They had not even finished announcing the details of the first goal when Joel Farabee scored a second. Scott Laughton who was returning from a three game absence fired a shot that was stopped by Jake Allen. Farabee picked up the rebound and put it through the legs of the falling goaltender at 11:32.
The Flyers went right back to work in the second. Just 2:49 into the 2nd period Ristolainen passed the puck to Cam York who fired a wrist shot from the point. Garnet Hathaway tipped the shot downward under Allen’s glove and into the net. Ristolainen’s second assist of the night was also the 300th point of his NHL career.
The middle period of tonight’s hockey game was a real treat to watch. Both teams were playing solid hockey and both goaltenders were putting on a show. Flyers netminder Samuel Ersson played a very strong game. He made several key stops including a huge glove save on Dawson Mercer. Ersson was named First Star.
The Flyers were swarming with five minutes left in the period. They kept up prolonged pressure in the Devils end. Flyers Fans have the hockey IQ to understand what they were watching. The crowd noise swelled as the pressure sustained. The Devils netminder was above and beyond on chances by Cates, Konecny, and Drysdale.
The Devils managed to get on the board with a bit of a fluky goal with just 1:13 left in the 2nd period. Dougie Hamilton fired a shot that dinged off the pipe and went upwards. As the puck was falling it bounced off a combination of Ersson and Travis Sanheim and into the net.
Finish ’em off
The Flyers kept taking it to the Devils and their goalie kept standing tall. He stopped a shot by Hathaway on a two-on-one with Morgan Frost. Then he blanked Brink on an odd man rush with Jamie Drysdale. Both goaltenders continued to shine through the final period. The Devils outshot the Flyers 33-26 on the night.
The Devils pulled their goalie for the extra attacker with four minutes left in regulation. The Flyers missed an opportunity to make a line change and ended up with a squad of tired skaters bottled up in their own zone. The Flyers could not clear the puck. Eventually Timo Meier scored a goal that seemed to redirect off a Flyer cutting the lead to 3-2 with 1:22 left on the clock.
The Devils pulled their goalie again and were starting the attack from their own zone. Jack Hughes passed the puck to his brother Luke. Travis Konecny picked Luke’s pocket at center ice and dished the puck to Scott Laughton who shot it ino the empty net with 15 seconds left. Final score 4-2 Flyers.
Extra Credit: The Flyers were coming off brutal back-to-back losses in New York. First being humiliated by the Rangers 6-1. Then losing to the Islanders 3-1 in a game that John Tortorella comically summed up by saying “I thought both teams sucked quite honestly”, The Flyers really needed a game like tonight’s to turn things around quick. The division standing are so tight any team that falls into a slump at this point risks getting left in the dust.
These two teams face each other again Wednesday night in New Jersey 7:00 PM
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