26-Second Difference | GAME STORY

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - The Philadelphia Flyers set a franchise record with three goals in 26 seconds in the first period in route to a 6-3 victory against the Devils Saturday night at Xfinity Mobile Arena.

The Devils and Flyers were tied at 1-1 in the first period when Matvei Michkov and Tyson Foerster (2x) made team history by tallying in a 26-second span to make it a 4-1 game. Philadelphia would never relinquish the lead.

"It gets them in the game, gets the crowd going, and we unravel from there," head coach Sheldon Keefe said. "How you manage that, that is the game. There were good stretches in the second and good stretches in the third, but the game was lost in those moments."

The Flyers also received goals from Noah Cates, Bobby Brink and Trevor Zegras.

The Devils opened the scoring on Timo Meier’s power play goal. Nico Hischier would add two goals for New Jersey.

But it was the three-goal outburst by Philly that was the difference in the game.

"That hurt us," Hischier said. "That shouldn't happen. That was the game. ... We were sleeping for a couple shifts and they made us pay. It's hard chasing a 4-1 deficit. So that's not it."

Here are some observations from the game:

• New Jersey finished its five-game road trip with a 2-3-0 mark, winning the opening two while dropping the last three straight.

• The setback was the first time the Devils lost in regulation after scoring the game's first goal. They’re now 9-1-1 when scoring first.

• Meier really earned his power-play goal in the first period. He was set up at the side of the left post when he had a couple whacks at a loose puck. He didn’t convert. The puck would work its way back around to Jesper Bratt above the far circle. Bratt’s shot sailed over the net and off the glass. Meier, still at the side of the net, grabbed the puck off the glass, put it down to his stick and tucked it inside the near post for the goal.

• Nico Hischier picked up his fifth goal of the season late in the second period. But it was Luke Hughes that really made the play.

Hughes had puck by the blue line. He skated down the left side and juked Flyers forward Owen Tippett out of his skates, swerving around him. Hughes then began to cut to the net before making a perfect pass through the slot to Hischier, who finished off the play for his first of the game.

• The Devils pulled Jake Allen with seven minutes left in regulation and trailing 5-3. It paid off as Simon Nemec’s blast from the midpoint was tipped by Hischier on its way into the net.

• The Devils switched up their defensive pairings halfway through the game. They united Simon Nemec with Luke Hughes. The groups look like:

Hughes – Nemec
Siegenthaler – Hamilton
Dillon - Cholowski

The Devils also switched up the second and third lines, flipping Connor Brown and Ondrej Palat:

Palat - Mercer - Gritsyuk
Dadonov - Lammikko - Brown

Keefe: "I'm looking for players. I'm looking for guys that can play. We can only play guys so much. We need to use the bench. We need other guys so we're chasing it a little bit. Trying to find some things that work."