Flyers Downed by Devils in Sloppy Game

By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 

Late in the second, the Flyers got the margin down to one. Just over a minute into the third, any thought of a comeback and back-to-back wins was quickly erased.

The Flyers struggled to get quality chances against the Devils, falling 3-2 on Saturday afternoon.

The Devils came out firing from the start, taking five shots in the first 90 seconds of the game. Carter Hart was up to the task early, but couldn't stop a perfectly placed one-timer by Damon Severson off a nice passing play at 6:32, giving the Devils a 1-0 lead.

The Flyers came back to even the shot total at 12 by the end of the period.

Just over five minutes into the second, a turnover proved costly for the Flyers. Travis Sanheim coughed up the puck at center ice to Nico Hischier, and Hischier went back the other way and beat Hart with a nice move through the five-hole to make it 2-0.

The Flyers did have an answer late in the period. Sean Couturier started the Flyers on a two-on-one and James van Riemsdyk held on and lifted a shot over Mackenzie Blackwood to cut the lead to one with his eighth goal of the season.

After two periods, the Devils had a 22-21 advantage in shots.

Early in the third, the Devils got another goal to seemingly put the game away. A shot by Hischier was stopped by Hart, but he lost track of the rebound and Miles Wood swept in to score. 

With two seconds left in the game, Couturier scored on a breakaway, but it came too late for the Flyers to make any additional comeback.

Hart made 23 saves in the loss. Blackwood stopped 32 shots in the win.

The Flyers return home to face the Minnesota Wild on Monday night at 7 p.m.

Box Score

Scoring Summary

1st Period

• NJ Damon Severson (6) (Drew Stafford, Pavel Zacha) 6:32

2nd Period

• NJ Nico Hischier (13) (Unassisted) 5:08
• PHI James van Riemsdyk (8) (Sean Couturier, Ivan Provorov) 15:51

3rd Period

• NJ Miles Wood (5) (Hischier, Blake Coleman) 1:18
• PHI Couturier (16) (Jake Voracek) 19:58

Game Statistics