The New Jersey Devils notched a much-needed 3-1 victory in Philadelphia to end a three game losing streak. The newest trade deadline additions played huge dividends as New Jersey went ahead by two and held the lead thanks to a late empty net tally.
With the victory, the Devils sit at 34-25-6 on the season. This is still good for third in the Metropolitan Division. They lead Columbus and New York (Rangers) by six points in the playoff race. Those two teams faceoff Sunday night.
Recap
Period 1
It was a relatively quiet first period until the 11:10 mark. After a nice shift, newest Devil, Cody Glass, wristed home a shot past Flyers netminder Ivan Fedotov. Stefan Noesen and Luke Hughes picked up assists on the goal.
After one, New Jersey led 1-0 on the scoreboard, but it was the Flyers who had the advantage in terms of chances and shots. In the frame, the Flyers outshot New Jersey, had 20 shot attempts to the Devils’ 15, and had the scoring chance advantage 9-7. Jake Allen was strong, saving all eight shots he faced.
Period 2
The Devils once again were the only team to score in the second period. Pretty quickly into the frame, Erik Haula scored his first goal since goal and point since November 25. It was much-needed for him. Despite not getting an assist, new-Devil Cody Glass made a great pass to set the chance up.
It was a much better period for New Jersey in terms of chances and shots. They held 69% of the expected goal share, had the 12-7 advantage in scoring chances, and outshot Philadelphia 11-5.
Period 3
It took until the third period, but the first penalty of the game was finally called. Stefan Noesen went to the box for tripping, but the Devils turned in a superb penalty kill against one of the worst power plays in the league.
After that, it was status quo for most of the game, until Jamie Drysdale weaved through the Devils’ defense and beat Jake Allen on what was a partial breakaway. With just under five minutes remaining, the Devils had to hold onto a one-goal lead.
The Devils did just that, including an extremely long offensive shift that resulted in Travis Sanheim laying a dangerous cross check on Brett Pesce. New Jersey got a very late power play as a result, and Dawson Mercer was able to put the insurance goal home off a center ice face-off. That was all she wrote, as the Devils notched a much-needed 3-1 victory over the struggling Flyers.
Wrap Up
With the victory, the Devils ended a three game losing streak while extending Philadelphia’s to four. Erik Haula, who scored for the first time since November, had a two point game. Cody Glass also scored in his Devils debut.
Jake Allen got his 10th victory of the season. He stopped 23-of-24 shots faced in victory to go along with a 0.55 goals saved above expected. On the season, he sits with a 0.908 save percentage and 11.77 goals saved above expected.
The Devils did not allow a power play goal after allowing one in five of their last seven games.
Game Notes
New-Look Third Line
Head coach Sheldon Keefe put two of his newest offensive pieces on the same line with Erik Haula and got rewarded for it mightily. The third line of Haula, Cody Glass, and Daniel Sprong posted a 93.03 expected goals-for percentage (xGF%) and were rewarded with a first-period goal. The trio played really strong hockey and gave the Devils’ bottom six a boost they have not had in a while.
Troublesome Day For Line 2
With head coach Sheldon Keefe putting two of his centers on line three (Haula and Glass), it left Dawson Mercer to center Jesper Bratt and Ondrej Palat. That trio had an awful day, as they posted a game-worst 26.81 xGF%. While on the ice, the trio allowed nine scoring chances to only five of their own. Specifically, Palat was dead last on the team in Corsi-for percentage (CF%) at 32.43% and had a 19.43 xGF%. It was a very tough day for that second line.
What’s Next?
The Devils have a massive game against the team directly behind them in the standings on Tuesday, as they welcome the Columbus Blue Jackets to the Prudential Center for a 7:00 pm ET puck drop. The game can be seen on MSG SportsNet.