Johnsson's Four Points Lead Devils to Huge Win Over Rivals | GAME STORY

NEWARK, NJ - Andreas Johnsson had two goals and four points and Jesper Bratt had a goal and three points to lead the Devils to a 5-2 win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Sunday night at Prudential Center.

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Five minutes into the game, Dougie Hamilton rang a shot off the crossbar. Moments later, Devils were able to maintain possession and Hamilton stayed net front where he redirected a feed from Andreas Johnsson.
"Number one, we needed a bounce-back game after the performance we pitched against Nashville and thought we got it," said Devils head coach Lindy Ruff. "Got off to a great start."
With seven minutes to go in the opening frame, Nico Hischier rang a shot off the crossbar as Devils looked to increase their lead.
Ryan Graves knocked down Travis Konecny with 5:47 to go in the first, giving the game's first power play to the Flyers.
With 21 seconds to play in the first, Joel Farabee was sent off for hooking Damon Severson to end the Flyers power play. Devils then had 79 seconds on the power play.
Shorthanded, Scott Laughton used his speed to create separation from himself and P.K. Subban. He muscled a backhand past Devils starting goalie Mackenzie Blackwood to tie the game up.
After one, shots on goal were 9-7 for the Flyers. Although the Devils were outshot, Ruff liked the team's overall compete in the opening frame where goals had been harder to come by in recent contests.
"The way we've played in the third has been good. Tonight, the way we played in the first was the way we need to play. We were on our toes, the defense was involved. Dougie scored. You have people diligent enough to cover at the blue line."
Less than two minutes into the second, the Devils struck to regain the lead. Andreas Johnsson ripped a shot high blocker side after taking a crisp cross-ice pass from Jesper Bratt
Mason Geertsen and Zack MacEwan dropped the gloves for a spirited fight in which neither combatant knocked the other down. After the fight, MacEwan had to go to the room for repairs and Geertsen iced down his hand.
"I think that's a big deal," Ruff said of the fight and the physical play Geertsen brought to the table. "We're sometimes a little smaller. He provides a safe working environment for everybody.
"We've got Jack coming back. I don't want players taking liberties with our players. That's what he's here for. You couldn't have pulled many guys down when they were standing on the bench when that was going on. Plus, he's a great team guy."
With time winding down in the second period, Bratt had a clear-cut breakaway and went for a shot rather than his usual deke but Martin Jones stood tall to make a nice glove stop to keep it a one-goal game.
Justin Braun was called for hooking with 10 seconds left in the middle frame to set up a Devils man advantage to open the third.
Shots on goal after 40 minutes were 21-18 for New Jersey.

Three minutes into the third, the Flyers tied the game at 2-2. Laughton quickly fed the puck to Joel Farabee in front and Farabee made no mistake, with a quick shot past Blackwood.
With 13:16 to go in the third, the Devils went on the power play after a Flyers delay-of-game penalty but not much was generated before the man advantage was negated by a Jimmy Vesey penalty.
Shots on goal in the third were 8-2 for the Devils midway through the period.
Devils regained the lead with just over eight minutes to play in the third. Johnsson picked up a turnover at the Flyers blueline and immediately created a two-on-one. He dished it to Bratt and the nice backhand pass was converted to make it 3-2 for the home side.
"Bratter did a great job screaming at me to know that he was there," chuckled Johnsson.
Just over two minutes later, Nate Bastian scored his first goal since returning to the Devils, taking a great pass from Hamilton in front and putting it into the open cage.
"I wanted to shoot, I like to shoot," Hamilton stated, adding that when he saw Bastian he just had to dish it over. "Everyone loves him here. Everyone talks so highly of him and we're really lucky to have him back. He's been great so far. Very positive energy and really good guy."
With the goaltender pulled for the extra attacker, Andreas Johnsson scored an empty-net goal for his second goal and fourth point of the night.
"We came out really good," added Johnsson. "We gave them opportunities to come back in the game but we were patient and scored a couple of huge goals at the end."
Shots on goal in the third period were 14-6 for the Devils; 35-25 in the game overall.
"It was a game we really needed against an opponent that's right there with us," said Ruff. "The game got physical. The four lines, the six D."