What’s the saying? A win is a win?
Well, last night the New Jersey Devils (20-4-1) took down the Philadelphia Flyers (8-12-5) in what may have been one of the Devils’ uglier games of the year. Though, the victory gave the team their 11th-consecutive road victory, and 20th win of the year. The current road winning streak is now the longest in franchise history, passing the 2000-01 squad who won 10 straight on the road.
Recap
Period One
The Devils never really truly dominated in this game, but especially not in the first period. The frame has been an issue for the team as of late, but they didn’t let up a goal in this one. Schmid stood tall on the chances he faced and it stayed 0-0.
Period Two
After not even getting a shot for over a 16-minute stretch between the first and second period, Miles Wood centered a puck from behind the net to Fabian Zetterlund who slammed it home. After all the Flyers pressure it was the Devils who made it 1-0.
It didn’t take long for Philadelphia to respond though, as perfect passing led to a Travis Konecny goal on the power play just a 1:40 later. Konecny now has 11 goals against the Devils, the most he has against any team.
Period Three
The third period started out in a fortunate way for the Devils, as Miles Wood forced a turnover from Carter Hart behind the net. He got the puck to Dawson Mercer who stuffed it into the yawning cage.
Then, after some more pressure in their own end, the Devils started to turn the play their way. This eventually led to Jack Hughes doing his thing and sneaking the puck short side for his team-leading 13th of the year.
With under five to go a broken stick for Jonas Siegenthaler would lead to a broken play and Lukas Sedlak firing the puck home to make it 3-2 Devils.
Just a minute later the Flyers thought they tied it, but the goal was immediately waved off for an obvious goaltender interference. There was no challenge and the teams played on.
The final three minutes would be played almost exclusively in the Devils’ end. After a last gasp chance for Philly following a failed Akira Schmid clear, the clock would hit zero. The Devils held on to win, 3-2.
Game Notes
Good Teams Find a Way
If you look at any statistic, it’s very clear that the Devils were not the better team. They lost the shot battle, Corsi-for percentage (CF%) battle, and expected goals-for percentage (xG%) battle all by fairly significant margins. The only player who had a great game for the Devils in regards to possession metrics was Jesper Bratt who magically came away from last night with a 80.95 CF% and 87.88 xG%.
The point though is that the Devils were not good, but they didn’t give up a ton of high-danger chances and came away with the win. That’s what good teams do, and that’s what the Devils are going to have to do when they don’t have their A-game.
Blackwood Appears Close, Though Where Does He Fit?
Mackenzie Blackwood returned to practice a few days ago. This usually means for an injured player that he should return shortly. However, should Blackwood return to the team? Since going down with injury the team has only lost in regulation once and Akira Schmid has stepped in and played terrifically. Schmid has actually tied the franchise record for longest winning streak by one goalie to start the season.
Prior to his injury, Blackwood had an abysmal .880 save percentage (Sv%) in seven games played. With Schmid and Vanecek combining for an incredible .946 SV% this season, it’s hard to see Blackwood having a very long leash when/if he returns.
What’s Next?
The Devils next game is Tuesday night at the Prudential Center. They welcome in the Chicago Blackhawks for a 7:00 P.M. ET puck drop.