The New Jersey Devils (28-18-6) fell 4-2 to the Philadelphia Flyers (23-22-6) in Philadelphia on Monday night. The Devils, without captain Nico Hischier, who was injured on Saturday, fell behind 3-0 early and a valiant comeback effort came up just short. The loss snapped a two-game win streak for New Jersey, who have now lost both matchups with the Flyers this season.
Game Summary
First Period
After a sluggish start, it was the Devils who had the first big opportunity to open the scoring. Four minutes into the contest, Rasmus Ristolainen drew blood while high-sticking Ondrej Palat, giving New Jersey a four minute power play.
However, on that double minor, the Devils could not generate much in terms of high-danger chances. The best looks actually fell to Philadelphia, but both Scott Laughton and Garnett Hathaway were denied on shorthanded breakaways by Jake Allen.
When the game returned to five-on-five, neither team created much. The Flyers went to a power play of their own, though, after Curtis Lazar was called for tripping midway through the period.
With Hischier out of the lineup and Lazar in the box, Dawson Mercer took the opening faceoff which was won back by Philadelphia. The Flyers promptly set up Bobby Brink for a one-timer, and he beat Allen just eight seconds into the power play, making it 1-0 Philadelphia.
The Flyers doubled their lead just 28 seconds later. Allen bobbled a Laughton wrist shot and Joel Farabee pounced on the rebound to make it 2-0.
In the closing minutes of the first period, the Devils tried to find some momentum, but once again struggled to create much of anything. When the horn sounded for intermission, it was still 2-0 Flyers.
In the first, shots were 9-8 in favor of Philadelphia. New Jersey posted a 60.71 Corsi-for percentage (CF%) and a 50.84 expected goals-for percentage (xGF%) at five-on-five.
Second Period
Less than three minutes in, the Flyers made it 3-0 when Garnett Hathaway deflected home a Cam York point shot.
The game went to four-on-four with 12:30 left in the period after Dougie Hamilton and Nick Seeler took coincidental roughings after Seeler laid a big, high hit on Nathan Bastian. Bastian would not return to the game.
During the four-on-four, the Devils created a couple of excellent looks, but Jesper Bratt was denied on the doorstep by Sam Ersson before Dawson Mercer had a one-timer in the slot turned aside.
Just after the roughing minors expired, Tyson Foerster burst through the middle. He was tripped by Luke Hughes, sending Philadelphia back to the man advantage. However, this time, New Jersey killed it off.
On the penalty kill and on his next shift at even strength, Jack Hughes had a pair of chances leading a two-on-one rush, but was denied by Ersson on both shots.
With five minutes left in the period, Allen was forced into a six-save flurry on one shift to keep the deficit at 3-0.
The Devils caught a break late in the period after a Dougie Hamilton snapshot careened off the post. Defenseman Travis Sanheim tried to clear the puck off the goal line, but his clearance banked off Ersson’s back and in, getting New Jersey on the board.
In the second period, shots were 15-11. The Devils registered a 50.00 CF% and just a 24.63 xGF% at five-on-five.
Third Period
The third period began fairly open and Jake Allen came up with some big saves early on. The Devils then started piling on the pressure once again, but could not beat Ersson.
However, with just over 12 minutes to play, Ersson was called for delay of game after clearing a puck directly out of play.
On the man advantage, the Devils created some great looks with Ondrej Palat in Nico Hischier’s bumper role, but Ersson made a pair of excellent saves on Palat and Jesper Bratt. Philadelphia ultimately completed the kill.
Philadelphia once again had a chance to put the game out of reach, but Allen made another great save to deny Garnett Hathaway on a two-on-one one-timer. Allen came up big again a minute later, making another one-timer save on Bobby Brink this time.
Down two goals, head coach Sheldon Keefe pulled Allen for the extra attacker with just over four minutes to play. For the first two minutes with the extra skater, the Devils struggled to get any shots through on net.
However, while in the midst of a three minute shift, Jack Hughes made a phenomenal diving play to keep the puck in the offensive zone. Ultimately, New Jersey worked it around the horn to Timo Meier, who cranked a one-timer home from the circle.
After Meier cut the deficit to 3-2 with 1:22 to play, Keefe used his timeout to keep his top weapons on the ice. However, the Devils could not find an equalizer and Scott Laughton sealed the Philadelphia victory with an empty net goal with 14 seconds to go.
In the third, the Devils outshot the Flyers 10-6 and had a 57.69 CF% and a 39.00 xGF% at five-on-five.
Wrap-Up
For the game, shots were 33-26 New Jersey. The Devils finished with a 55.95 CF% and a 36.99 xGF% at five-on-five.
Jake Allen took the loss. He stopped 22 of 25 shots faced and allowed 1.29 goals above expected.
Game Notes
Lack of Quality
The Devils really struggled to generate many grade-A looks at five-on-five. Nearly 50 minutes of the contest were played at five-on-five, and New Jersey managed just one high-danger chance. In that same time frame, they generated just 0.85 expected goals.
While Samuel Ersson did make some quality saves, the Devils simply did not make his job difficult enough, as was the case last weekend in New Jersey. In that 3-1 Flyers victory, the Devils once again managed just one high-danger chance and only 0.56 expected goals at five-on-five.
The Devils have been struggling to score since the Christmas Break, and especially in these two losses to Philadelphia, lack of chance creation has been the reason why.
Jack Hughes
Maybe the lone bright spot for New Jersey was Jack Hughes. With Nico Hischier out, Jack shouldered much of the load offensively. Especially in the second half of the contest, Hughes was the driving force of nearly every Devils chance.
Hughes finished with a team-best 67.44 xGF% at five-on-five while owning a 7-2 edge in scoring chances.
Hamilton and Siegenthaler Reunion?
Sheldon Keefe appeared to shake up the defense pairings late in the game to attempt to spark some offense from New Jersey. As a result, Dougie Hamilton was reunited with his defense partner from much of the last two seasons, Jonas Siegenthaler.
The duo both played relatively well, finishing with a xGF% north of 54.00. They were the only New Jersey defensemen to do so.
It will be interesting to see if this was a one-off change from Keefe, or if he may look at changing the pairings moving forward.
Fourth Line Invisible
Unfortunately for New Jersey, the strong performance from the fourth line on Saturday did not translate to Monday. Even before Nathan Bastian left with an injury after the hit he took from Nick Seeler, the line was getting dominated in terms of run of play.
As a group, Tomas Tatar, Curtis Lazar, and Nathan Bastian played nearly five minutes together at five-on-five. They generated 0.00 expected goals. Even after Bastian’s injury, Tatar and Lazar both finished with 0.00 expected goals while on the ice at five-on-five.
What’s Next
The Devils and Flyers conclude this home-and-home in New Jersey on Wednesday night. Puck drop is slated for 7:00 pm ET and the game is a TNT exclusive.
Note: All statistics via Natural Stat Trick.