Flyers Doomed by Mistakes, Handed 6th Straight Loss to Devils

By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 

It continues to go from bad to worse for the Flyers. Trying to snap a five-game losing streak, they managed to get a tying goal to have a chance to start to right the ship. Then the Devils struck off turnovers and opportunities to quickly regain the lead and put the game away.

Three goals in the third proved to be the difference for the Flyers, as they were handed their sixth straight loss, 5-2, to the Devils on Sunday night. 

The Devils came out firing to start and turned that into the first goal of the game at 5:07. Dougie Hamilton hit the crossbar after joining the rush, but got the goal moments later on a tip in front for his sixth goal of the season.

The Flyers had an opportunity with the game's first power play, but didn't generate anything and took a penalty of their own with 21 seconds left on the man-advantage. While shorthanded, they got another pretty play to even things up.

Scott Laughton got a step and fended off P.K. Subban while making a move to the backhand and elevating over Mackenzie Blackwood to make it a 1-1 game at 17:03.

Through 20 minutes, shots were 9-7 Flyers.

It didn't take long in the second period for the Devils to get the lead back. Andreas Johnsson was in on a breakaway and had his first chance stopped, then elevated the rebound over the net. A Rasmus Ristolainen turnover allowed New Jersey to regain control, and Johnsson got the payoff after taking a cross-ice feed from Jesper Bratt to make it a 2-1 game at 1:47. 

The Devils controlled most of the period, taking a 21-18 lead in shots through two periods. Martin Jones stood his ground and kept the margin at one, keeping the Flyers in the game. In the final seconds of the period, Justin Braun took a hooking penalty to give the Devils a power play to start the third.

The Flyers killed off the penalty to start the period, then took advantage of a bounce to get the game tied. 

A pass attempt behind the net hit the referee, allowing Laughton to get control and make a quick play to set up Joel Farabee for the tying goal at 3:04. It was Farabee's seventh of the season and third straight game with a goal.

But in the second half of the third, the Devils took advantage of Flyers turnovers to not only take the lead, but put the game out of reach. A turnover off a missed exchange between Ristolainen and Ivan Provorov led to a break for Johnsson. Johnsson got the puck across to Bratt for the tally, making it 3-2 Devils with 8:03 remaining.

Less than three minutes later, a breakdown allowed the Devils to pad the lead. Nathan Bastian was on the receiving end of a slam-dunk pass from Hamilton after the puck hit off the skate of Keith Yandle. That made it 4-2 New Jersey with 5:46 to play.

The Devils got an empty-net goal from Johnsson to cap the scoring. It was Johnsson's second goal and fourth point of the game. 

Jones made 30 saves on 34 shots in the loss. Blackwood made 23 saves on 25 shots in the win.

In addition to Johnsson's four-point night, Hamilton had a goal and an assist and Bratt had a goal and two assists.

The Flyers have off until Wednesday, following the announcement of Tuesday night's postponement, and will hit the road again to face the New York Rangers at 7 p.m.

Box Score

Scoring Summary

1st Period

• NJ Dougie Hamilton (6) (Andreas Johnsson, Jesper Bratt) 5:07
• PHI Scott Laughton (4) SH (Ivan Provorov, Sean Couturier) 17:03

2nd Period

• NJ Andreas Johnsson (8) (Bratt) 1:47

3rd Period

• PHI Joel Farabee (7) (Laughton) 3:04
• NJ Bratt (5) (Johnsson) 11:57
• NJ Nathan Bastian (2) (Hamilton, Michael McLeod) 14:14
• NJ Johnsson (9) EN (Dawson Mercer) 17:04

Game Statistics