Game Summary
The New Jersey Devils are on their first losing streak of the season. In another lackluster game, the Devils lost 3-1 to the Philadelphia Flyers. New Jersey is now 3-3-1 on the season. Meanwhile, the Flyers now somehow hold a 5-2-1 record.
The first period was a solid one for New Jersey. Damon Severson got the scoring going seven-minutes in as he rocketed a wrist shot to the top-left of the net. However, the Flyers would answer back just a couple of minutes later as Nate Prosser put home a juicy Scott Wedgewood rebound. Both Wedgewood and Kyle Palmieri shared the fault on this one. Wedgewood gave up a rebound after a relatively weak, non-screened shot from the point that hit him in his glove. Meanwhile, Kyle Palmieri lost his man on the backside.
The second period was another one New Jersey owned. The Devils controlled the five-on-five shot attempts 19-9 and also had an expected goal share of 53.48%. Through two periods, the score was tied 1-1 despite having the shot attempt advantage 38-20 and shot total advantage 24-9. Yes, nine.
The third period is where the game got away from the Devils. Michael Raffl scored on a play he set up via an extremely smart pass off the boards. Unfortunately for the Devils, it seems the referees missed a few calls against Philadelphia, one being a potential trip on Jack Hughes that directly led to a Flyers goal. Claude Giroux got the insurance goal for Philadelphia off a beautiful redirection from a Jakub Voracek slap-pass later in the period.
The Devils ended up outshooting Philadelphia 34-17. Carter Hart, despite the struggles early in the season, showed why he is one of the best young goaltenders in the NHL with the 33-save win. Scott Wedgewoodâonce againâstruggled a tad as he absorbed the loss saving only 14 of 17.
Game Notes
- There were finally signs of life from Kyle Palmieri. He had numerous chances tonight, but just could not get the bounce he needed. His isolated Expected Goals For (xGF) was 0.98. This basically means he was expected to tally a goal but was a tad unlucky. This sign of life is great news for a New Jersey team that desperately needs a goal-scorer.
- The New Jersey Devils found an answer for a top line. The trio of Jesper Bratt, Jack Hughes, and Andreas Johnsson were unreal. They combined for a Corsi For % (CF%) of 72.00 as well as a five-on-five expected goal share of 61.57%. Johnsson specifically was tremendous as he had an Expected Goals For (xGF%) of 54.49 and a CF% of 65.52. This line possesses crazy speed and caused Philadelphia problems all night.
- The Devils shook up their defensive pairings before the game and it paid off in a big way. The duo of Damon Severson and Ty Smith excelled and was the best pairing for the Devils tonight. Severson is a perfect complement to Ty Smith, who has struggled immensely defensively all year. The duo had a 78.95 CF% and 84.52 xGF%, which are both incredible numbers. Matt Tennysonâwho I am a huge proponent ofâhad his best night of the season paired with Dmitry Kulikov, who has been terrific defensively this season. If the Devils choose to leave the same six in the lineup, head coach Lindy Ruff should stick to these pairings.
- The Yegor Sharangovich experience may be coming to a slow end. He only played 8:25 of total ice time, 6:25 of which was at five-on-five. Each were the lowest of any Devils player. Sharangovich has gone quiet these past few games. It seems likeâbased off ice-timeâhe may be the next forward that takes the seat when Ruff changes the forward group.
Note, statistics courtesy of NaturalStatTrick.com.
Next Game: Saturday, January 30th at Buffalo