Flyers Fall as Devils Snap 10-Game Winless Streak

By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 

On Sunday night, the Flyers essentially snatched a win away from the Devils, a team that was within mere moments of snapped a nine-game winless streak. Twice in the game on Tuesday night, the Devils got the lead only to have the Flyers claw back and take it away again. The third time was the charm though, as a goal with 7:24 left sealed the deal.

The Flyers dropped Tuesday's game to the Devils by a score of 6-4, snapping New Jersey's 10-game winless streak. Coupled with a win for the Boston Bruins, it reduced their tragic number to be officially eliminated from playoff contention to a combination of three points gained by the Bruins or lost by the Flyers.

Just over five minutes into the first period, the Flyers got a four-minute power play on a double-minor by Michael McLeod for high-sticking. Claude Giroux hit the post on one chance, but the Flyers managed just one shot.

For the rest of the period, the Flyers were held without a shot, and the Devils capitalized on a late power play of their own. Nico Hischier scored on a rebound with 1:15 remaining in the period to make it 1-0.

Through 20 minutes, shots were 9-3 New Jersey.

Just 37 seconds into the second, Travis Sanheim dropped the gloves with McLeod after a hit on Sean Couturier. Sanheim was assessed an additional minor for roughing. On the ensuing power play, the Devils scored. Pavel Zacha was in the slot and fired a quick shot that made it through Brian Elliott to make it 2-0 at 2:20.

Less than three minutes later, an extended shift in the Flyers zone led to another goal. A distance shot from Miles Wood found the net through a huge screen, making it 3-0 New Jersey at 5:14.

Just 15 seconds later, the Flyers were on the board with a rebound goal by Oskar Lindblom, his eighth of the season. Jackson Cates picked up his first NHL point with an assist on the goal.

The Devils nearly took a 4-1 lead on a breakaway for Hischier, but his shot hit the crossbar and post and stayed out. A review was needed to overturn the call on the ice.

Through two periods, shots were even at 18.

It took just 2:24 for the Flyers to get on the board in the third. After winning a battle in the corner, the puck came out to the slot for Phil Myers, who fired his shot home to make it 3-2.

Just 1:10 later, the Flyers tied things up. Once again, it was Giroux factoring into the comeback, getting the puck from Voracek and making a move to beat Mackenzie Blackwood and tie the game at three at 3:34.

At 8:04, the Flyers got caught in a change and Elliott's angle was off as Connor Carrick fired a shot from an angle and scored to make it 4-3 New Jersey.

Just over four minutes later, the Flyers tied the game again as Couturier fired a shot from a distance along the boards that evened things up at four.

It took just 11 seconds for the Devils to answer. Yegor Sharangovich got the puck out of a miscue behind the Flyers net and tucked it in to make it 5-4.

That stood up as the game-winning goal, as Mikhail Maltsev finished things off with an empty-net goal with two seconds remaining.

Blackwood finished with 26 saves in the win. Elliott stopped 21 of 26 shots faced in the loss.

Eight different Flyers recorded a point in the game. Egor Zamula had three shots, one blocked shot, and was a plus-1 in 19:19 of playing time in his NHL debut. For the Devils, Zacha and Carrick finished with a goal and an assist. McLeod, Ty Smith and Jack Hughes had two assists each.

The two teams get back on the ice on Thursday night at 7 p.m.

Box Score

Scoring Summary

1st Period

• NJ Nico Hischier (5) PP (Jack Hughes, Pavel Zacha) 18:45

2nd Period

• NJ Zacha (12) PP (Hughes, Ty Smith) 2:20
• NJ Miles Wood (17) (Unassisted) 5:14
• PHI Oskar Lindblom (8) (Jackson Cates, Nolan Patrick) 5:29

3rd Period

• PHI Phil Myers (1) (Unassisted) 2:24
• PHI Claude Giroux (14) (Jake Voracek, Robert Hagg) 3:34
• NJ Connor Carrick (1) (Smith, Michael McLeod) 8:04
• PHI Sean Couturier (15) (Unassisted) 12:25
• NJ Yegor Sharangovich (12) (Janne Kuokkanen) 12:36
• NJ Mikhail Maltsev (6) EN (McLeod, Carrick) 19:58

Game Statistics