The Philadelphia Flyers’ misfortunes in outdoor games continued as they dropped the Stadium Series affair against the New Jersey Devils by a score of 6-3. Their outdoor record now sits at 1-4-1.
The Devils opened the scoring just 32 seconds into the game off the stick of Nico Hischier before Tyler Toffoli doubled the lead by the end of the first period. The second frame was a see-saw affair with both clubs scoring twice, including 3 goals in a span of 1:47 – including 2 from Owen Tippett.
Entering the third period up by 2, Hischier scored his second of the night before Nick Seeler scored his first of the season to bring the Flyers right back. They threw everything including the kitchen sink towards Nico Daws but he didn’t break as he stopped 43 shots for the victory.
After having their 4-game winning streak snapped on Thursday night in Toronto, the Flyers took their talents outdoors looking to extend their point streak to 6 games against the Devils.
The Flyers kept the same lineup from Thursday with Nicolas Deslauriers replacing Olle Lycksell and all 7 defensemen dressing with Rasmus Ristolainen sidelined for multiple weeks. Samuel Ersson earned his 3rd consecutive start, looking to improve on his 15-9-4 record, 2.55 GAA, and .900 SV%.
As for the Devils, this game is a big one in terms of playoff positioning as the Flyers entered tonight’s game holding onto the third spot in the Metropolitan Division by 7 points – the Devils do have 2 games in hand. They had gone 4-5-1 in their last 10 games and are coming off the heels of a 2-1 defeat against Los Angeles on Thursday.
Jesper Bratt paced the club with 57 points in 53 games, with Jack Hughes right behind him with 49 points in just 37 games, and Tyler Toffoli rounding out the top with 23 goals and 36 points in 52 games. Nico Daws earned his 4th consecutive start, looking to improve on his 5-6-0 record, 2.93 GAA, and .909 SV%.
FIRST PERIOD
It only took the New Jersey Devils 32 seconds to get on the board as Nico Hischier finished his breakaway opportunity through Samuel Ersson’s five-hole for his 17th of the season. Cam York lost the puck in the skates of the referee, which allowed Ondrej Palat to pounce on it before he banked it off the boards to a streaking Hischier.
Then about a minute later, Morgan Frost was nailed for a high-sticking minor at the 1:35 mark of the game. Fortunately, the 2nd-best penalty kill in the NHL made easy work of the struggling Devils power play, limiting them to zero shots.
At the 5:10 mark of the period, Colin Miller was handed a delay of game minor, sending the 31st-ranked power play unit to work. Unfortunately, it was cut short after Jamie Drysdale was nailed for a holding minor as he lost track of Jesper Bratt, who was making his way to the front of the net 47 seconds into the man advantage.
The Devils doubled their lead at the 13:30 mark after Tyler Toffoli finished off a juicy rebound in and around the blue paint for his team-leading 24th goal of the season. Ersson made the pad save on the initial shot by Brendan Smith but the rebound landed right to Toffoli for the easy finish.
With 41 seconds left in the period, Scott Laughton was nailed for a delay of game penalty. The period came to a close with the Devils up 2-0 on the scoreboard and holding a 13-9 edge in shots.
SECOND PERIOD
At the 7:43 mark of the second period, Owen Tippett ripped a rocket of a shot in the slot past Nico Daws to get the Flyers back within 1. Travis Konecny lost control of the puck as he entered the blue line but the Flyers were able to keep the puck in the zone before Konecny found Tippett open in the slot for his 20th of the season.
With 11:28 remaining in the period, Nicolas Deslauriers and Colin Miller were both sent to the box for roughing minors and in the first 9 seconds of the 4-on-4 situation, Bratt snuck in for an abbreviated breakaway but was stopped by Ersson. The Flyers then had 6 chances of their own but Nico Daws came up huge time after time.
With 21 seconds left on the 4-on-4, Šimon Nemec was called for a hooking minor, sending the Flyers onto an abbreviated 4-on-3 power play. Konecny cut the 5-on-4 power play short after he was sent to the box for a retaliatory slashing minor with 9:09 remaining.
Then with 6:14 left on the clock, Nick Seeler was assessed a high-sticking minor, sending the Devils onto their 5th power play of the game. The Flyers managed to kill their 5th successive penalty but not long after that, Brendan Smith finished off a juicy rebound in front of the net to reclaim their 2-goal lead with 3:24 left to play.
1:12 after Smith’s tally, Nathan Bastian ripped a shot high-glove past Ersson for his 4th goal of the season and first in 11 games. The puck was bouncing quite a bit but it was the deft touch pass by Timo Meier just outside the blue-line that allowed Bastian to sneak in on an odd-man rush.
Only 12 seconds later, the Flyers hopped on a very critical power play with 2 minutes exactly left on the clock thanks to a Palát hooking minor. Fortunately, the worst road power play in the league clicked – in successive games – just 23 seconds into the man advantage after some crisp passing led to another Tippett snap shot from the slot.
The Flyers carried all the momentum for the first 15 minutes of the period when they not only cut the deficit in half but fired a 21 shots to the Devils before the opposition added 2 quick tallies. The Flyers held a 24-15 advantage in shots in the period and 33-28 after 40 minutes.
THIRD PERIOD
2:48 into the final frame of regulation, Hischier scored his 2nd goal of the game after the Devils cycled the puck around the zone until Bratt located Hischier unmarked in the slot for his 18th of the season.
Nick Seeler was ripping hard snap-shots all game and he finally got one past Nico Daws with 10:53 remaining in regulation. He came in from the point and used Erik Haula as a screen before firing it off the post and in for his 1st of the season.
The Flyers pulled Ersson for the extra attacker with 3:20 remaining but they were unable to set up in the offensive zone and after just misfiring towards the empty net, Bastian doubled up and iced the game with 1:45 remaining.
UP NEXT
The Flyers are off until Wednesday night when they head out to Chicago to take on Connor Bedard and the Blackhawks (7:30pm ET, TNT) for the first time this season.
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