The preseason is over. The next time the Flyers take the ice, the 2024-25 regular season will begin.
In the final game of the preseason, two lineups that featured more AHL talent than NHL talent battled it out in a high-scoring affair. The Flyers finished off a 3-for-4 night on the power play with a pair of tallies in the third period, picking up a 5-4 win over the New Jersey Devils on Thursday night at Wells Fargo Center.
The Flyers got on the board first at the four-minute mark. Olle Lycksell was able to dig a rebound free in the crease and put it home for his second goal of the preseason.
The Devils evened things up at 10:33. Off a rush, Ryan Schmelzer fired a one-timer from the slot past Ivan Fedotov to make it 1-1.
Through 20 minutes, shots were 12-4 Flyers.
The Flyers got an early power play in the second and were able to retake the lead. At 1:28, JR Avon went end-to-end on a rush an beat Isaac Poulter to make it 2-1.
The Flyers made a scheduled goalie change at the midpoint of the period. Fedotov finished with seven saves on eight shots.
On the first shot attempt Alexei Kolosov faced, the Devils scored, as Mike Hardman finished off a nice passing play. But after a review, the play was offside and the goal was disallowed.
The Devils did eventually tie the game up with 1:24 remaining in the period, as Kevin Labanc fired one through a screen off a face-off. Just 16 seconds later, the Flyers got the lead back again as Emil Andrae fired a shot from the left circle.
Through two periods, shots were 23-14 Flyers.
The Flyers extended the lead with another early power-play goal, as Anthony Richard scored on a one-timer to make it 4-2. At 11:19, the Devils cut the lead back to one with a 5-on-3 goal by Labanc.
The teams traded goals again in the final two minutes. Noah Cates scored a power-play goal with 1:26 remaining to make it a 5-3 game before Labanc capped the scoring with his hat-trick goal with 10.2 seconds remaining.
Kolosov finished with 10 saves on 13 shots. Poulter played the entire game for the Devils and made 24 saves on 29 shots.
Andrae and Richard each finished with a goal and two assists in the win. Oliver Bonk added a pair of assists. In addition to Labanc’s hat trick, Justin Dowling had two assists for New Jersey.
Next up for the Flyers is the regular-season opener next Friday night in Vancouver at 10 p.m.
Box Score
| 1 | 2 | 3 | T | |
| Devils | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| Flyers | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 |
Scoring Summary
1st Period
- PHI Olle Lycksell (2) (Anthony Richard, Oliver Bonk) 4:00
- NJ Ryan Schmelzer (1) (Mikael Diotte, Jack Malone) 10:33
2nd Period
- PHI JR Avon (1) PP (Rodrigo Abols, Bonk) 1:28
- NJ Kevin Labanc (1) (Daniil Misyul, Justin Dowling) 18:36
- PHI Emil Andrae (1) (Unassisted) 18:52
3rd Period
- PHI Richard (2) PP (Andrae, Erik Johnson) 3:58
- NJ Labanc (2) PP (Dowling, Mike Hardman) 11:19
- PHI Noah Cates (1) PP (Richard, Andrae) 18:34
- NJ Labanc (3) (Cam Squires, Andy Welinski) 19:49
Game Statistics
| Devils | Flyers | |
| Shots | 21 | 29 |
| Power Play | 1/4 | 3/4 |
| Hits | 25 | 20 |
| Faceoff % | 38.9% | 61.1% |
| Giveaways | 15 | 21 |
| Takeaways | 3 | 0 |
| Blocked Shots | 10 | 14 |
| Penalty Minutes | 23 | 33 |
