Flyers Blanked By Kinkaid, Devils

(Photo: Kate Frese)

By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 

Down 2-0 with under four minutes to play, Keith Kinkaid had an empty net in front of him. As he corralled the puck, it looked like he tried to shoot for it. His attempt went right to the stick of Wayne Simmonds with a wide open net in front of him. Kinkaid somehow scrambled back enough to get his stick on it and knock it out of play.

It was that kind of night for the Flyers, who hit the post five times and had a goal disallowed in a 3-0 loss to the New Jersey Devils on Thursday night at Wells Fargo Center.

The Devils opened the scoring at 3:45. Off a transition play, Joey Anderson got the puck in the slot and fired a shot through the five-hole of Brian Elliott. It was Anderson's first NHL goal.

The Flyers went 0-for-2 on the power play and did not score on 10 shots on goal, but it wasn't for a lack of chances. The Flyers hit the post four times in the period, first by Travis Sanheim in the early portion of the period, next by Scott Laughton off a turnover and twice on the tail-end of a power play by Nolan Patrick and Travis Konecny.

The Flyers also thought they had a goal on the first power play of the night. Right off the face-off, Jake Voracek set up Shayne Gostisbehere, who stepped up and fired. The puck went in, but the goal was waved off as James van Riemsdyk made contact with Kinkaid's glove and mask. The Flyers challenged, but the ruling was upheld.

Shots at the end of the period were 10-10.

The Flyers killed off two penalties in the second period. They also let another power play go by the wayside.

It was a scoreless period, but the Flyers again generated a lot of scoring chances, with Kinkaid coming up big for the Devils. Elliott made a few excellent saves as well, stopping three high-quality chances during a penalty kill and stoning Marcus Johansson from the left circle.

Through two periods, shots were 20-19 Flyers.

The Flyers got another early power play in the third, and failed to take advantage, going 0-for-4 on the night. 

The Devils finally made the Flyers pay for missed opportunities with 6:08 remaining in the game. Kyle Palmieri came up the wing with speed and managed to complete the wraparound successfully to make it 2-0 New Jersey. Elliott was also hurt on the play and exited the game.

Simmonds got the glorious chance with a wide open net with under 3:30 to play, and the Devils iced the game shortly after with an empty-net goal by Blake Coleman.

Kinkaid finished the game with 29 saves for the shutout. Elliott stopped 23 of 25 shots before exiting. Cal Pickard made one save after entering the game.

The Flyers close out the five-game homestand by facing the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m.

Box Score

Scoring Summary

1st Period

• NJ Joey Anderson (1) (Brett Seney, Blake Coleman) 3:45

2nd Period

• No Scoring

3rd Period

• NJ Kyle Palmieri (11) (Coleman, Travis Zajac) 13:52
• NJ Coleman (6) EN (Palmieri) 16:58

Game Statistics