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The Philadelphia Flyers entered division play Saturday night as they took on the New Jersey Devils on home ice. Dan Vladar got the start in net, and Egor Zamula jumped in on defense. Noah Juulsen was a healthy scratch. The Flyers’ offense exploded in the first period as they scored three goals in 26 seconds after going down a goal early. This explosion led to a 6-3 regulation victory. The orange and black improved to 11-6-3 on the season.
The Devils got the game’s first power play at the 6:18 mark of the first period as Cam York got called for hooking. They capitalised on this opportunity as Timo Meier grabbed a puck that bounced off the wall and put a wrist shot past the glove of Vladar. Assists went to Jesper Bratt and Nico Hischier.
Noah Cates tied the game up at one for the Flyers at the 9:00 mark of the first. Devils goaltender Jake Allen made the initial save on Zamula but allowed a rebound. Allen swatted the puck straight to the stick of Cates, and he put a snapshot past Allen’s glove. The goal was unassisted.
The Flyers took a 2-1 lead at the 12:06 mark of the first period courtesy of Matvei Michkov. Sean Couturier made a pass that sent Michkov on a breakaway. Michkov then put a wrist shot through the legs (five-hole) of Allen. Couturier received the only assist.
Nine seconds later, Tyson Foerster made it 3-1 Flyers. Noah Cates fed Foerster with a backhanded pass across the ice, and Foerster put a snapshot past the blocker of Allen. Cates and Travis Konecny tallied assists.
The offense continued to explode as Foerster scored his second of the game at the 12:32 mark of the first period. Cates made a pass to the left circle, and Foerster put a wrist shot past Allen that just squeaked through his right arm. Cates and Nick Seeler collected assists. This gave the Flyers a 4-1 lead. That’s 3 goals in 26 seconds.
Arseny Gritsyuk was called for hooking at the 14:44 mark of the first, which gave the Flyers their first power play. They didn’t capitalize on the opportunity, but came close on a few shots. Cates had a chance on a deflection, and Konecny rang a puck off the outside of the post after it went off the stick of Allen.
With six seconds remaining on the Flyers power play, Konecny and Brendan Dillon took roughing penalties. However, it didn’t change anything.
The Devils got their second power play of the game at the 18:26 mark of the first period, as Michkov was called for slashing and roughing, and Gritsyuk was called for roughing. Vladar had to make a big save on Simon Nemec, and the Flyers did a nice job of clearing the puck down the ice to waste time off the clock.
Hischier was called for high-sticking at the 1:12 mark of the second period, which gave the Flyers their second power play. Nothing much happened on this one besides Konecny ringing a puck off the outside of the post. The Devils did their job of clearing the puck when given the chance.
The Flyers took a 5-1 lead at the 11:42 mark of the second thanks to Bobby Brink. Couturier made a few nice plays along the board to get the puck free and made a pass to Brink. Brink then put a wrist shot over the blocker of Allen. Couturier was given the only assist.
The Devils made the score 5-2 at the 16:16 mark of the second period. Luke Hughes made a nice pass to the left circle, and Hischier put a wrist shot past the glove of Vladar. Assists went to Hughes and Bratt.
The Flyers went on their third power play at the 10:38 mark of the third period due to Nemec getting called for tripping. The Devils had a few great scoring chances while shorthanded, and Allen only had to make one save on Cam York.
Allen was pulled with 6:47 left in the third in favor of the extra attacker as the Devils were down by three. It worked as Hischier scored his second of the game at the 13:27 mark. He tipped in Nemec’s slapshot from the blue line past the left pad of Vladar. This made it 5-3 Flyers. Nemec and Bratt tallied assists.
Trevor Zegras gave the Flyers their three-goal lead back at the 15:21 mark of the third period. Owen Tippett made a pass that sent Zegras on a breakaway. Zegras then put a wrist shot over the blocker of Allen. Tippett and Christian Dvorak were given assists.
Hughes was called for interference at the 18:00 mark of the third, which gave the Flyers their fourth power play. Allen made a save on Zegras, but that’s it. There was power play time still left when the game ended. The Flyers held on to win 6-3.
Flyers went zero for four on the power play and killed off one of the two Devils’ man advantages.
Vladar saved 32 of 35 shots, giving him a .914 save percentage.
Goal Summary
1st Period:
Meier (6) (Power Play) Assists: Bratt (14), Hischier (10)
Cates (5) Assists: none
Michkov (5) Assists: Couturier (10)
Foerster (6) Assists: Cates (7), Konecny (12)
Foerster (7) Assists: Cates (8), Seeler (3)
2nd Period:
Brink (6) Assists: Couturier (11)
Hischier (5) Assists: Hughes (11), Bratt (15)
3rd Period:
Hischier (6) Assists: Nemec (9), Bratt (16)
Zegras (7) Assists: Tippett (7), Dvorak (8)
Flyers Next Game
Flyers next game is Monday, Nov. 24, in Tampa Bay against the Lightning.
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