GAME STORY: Flyers 4, Devils 2

PHILADELPHIA, Pa.- The Devils started hot, scoring the game's first two goals 1:52 minutes apart against Philadelphia.
But the Flyers chipped away and took the lead permanently with a third-period power-play goal in a 4-2 victory against the Devils Monday night at Wells Fargo Center in the season finale.

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The Devils will hold locker room clean out and exit interviews Tuesday and Wednesday.
The Devils scored the opening two tallies of the game off the sticks of Pavel Zacha and Janne Kuokkanen.
The Flyers responded on goals from Joel Farabee (2), Sean Couturier and James van Riemsdyk.
"It looked like some players had fatigue in their game and that caught up to us," Devils head coach Lindy Ruff said. "We just couldn't finish anything after the first period."
The Devils finished the 2020-21 season with a 19-30-7 record.
Here are some other observations from the game…
* The turning point in the contest came with 7:35 left to play in the first period. The Devils Jesper Bratt and Nico Hischier had a 2-on-1. Bratt sent a pass across and Hischier had a completely wide-open net. His shot went wide of the post and he looked to the heavens.
The Devils had a 2-0 lead at the time, and a score there would have given New Jersey a 3-0 lead. Instead, 80 seconds later Farabee scored his first of two goals on the night to make it a 2-1 game and the Flyers' comeback had begun.
"Nico had a great chance and (Michael) McLeod had a great chance to make it 3-0," Ruff said. "That might have been the goal that put us over the hump."
* There were a few common factors on the Devils' two goals. On each scoring the sequence the Devils entered the zone by dumping the puck. The team then got in on the forecheck, won puck battles and created chances. After losing possession, they worked to force turnovers and scored seconds later.
* Rookie defenseman Kevin Bahl forced the turnover on New Jersey's first goal on a nice pinch along the wall. The captain, Hischier, did the rest by locating the puck near the crease and sending a blind, backhand pass across the crease to the stick of Zacha. It was a fantastic skill play by Hischier.
"I saw him going to the backdoor and I hoped he was going to stay there," Hischier said. "Luckily, he did. That's a good ting too. We kind of know where we're at. Pav read it well that I was going to give it backdoor there, and he was there. That's good stuff."
* The no-look backhand pass from Hischier was another display of the chemistry between the Zacha-Hischier-Bratt line.
"We built good chemistry this year," Hischier said. "We've always have. Even in the games in the past that we played together was always fun for us. I hope we can keep that going."
* And though he didn't pick up a point on the play, Bahl created it with the pinch.
* On the Devils' second goal it was Jack Hughes doing the takeaway honors. The Flyers had what should have been an easy defensive zone exit with the puck on the stick of Nicolas Aube-Kubel high above the circles. But Hughes pressured and stole the puck from him. Hughes found Will Butcher for a shot that was blocked, but the rebound found the stick of Kuokkanen, who buried without hesitation.
* In the afternoon, goaltender Scott Wedgewood was voted by the New Jersey media as the team's representative for the Bill Masterton Award, which goes to the player that "best exemplifies dedication, perseverance and sportsmanship in the game of hockey."
In the evening, Wedgewood suited up for his 16th and final showing of the season. He entered the year uncertain of his place on the team and earned a spot as the backup. With another uncertain offseason ahead, Wedgewood had one last chance to show his potential. It probably wasn't the showing he'd hoped for, but management will be looking at his overall body of work from the season.