post-1.27

The Philadelphia Flyers opened a home-and-home set against the New Jersey Devils with a 4-2 win at Wells Fargo Center on Monday evening. The teams will rematch at Prudential Center in Newark on Wednesday.

The Flyers took a 2-0 lead to the first intermission, killing off a four-minute penalty along the way. First period shots on goal favored Philly slightly, 9-8. Philly won each of the first six faceoffs on the way to going 16-for-22. A faceoff win would play directly into the first goal.

Rasmus Ristolainen received a high-sticking double minor behind the defensive net at 3:50 of the first period. Scott Laughton stole a puck in deep and had a shorthanded scoring chance on a turnaround shot. At 5:22 (2:28 left on the penalty), Garnet Hathaway fired a puck on net from the left circle.

Philly killed off the rest of the penalty in good shape and Samuel Ersson made a stop (sixth of the period) as 5-on-5 play resumed.

The Flyers went to the power play at 10:58 as Curtis Lazar was called for tripping. Philly converted it immediately into a Bobby Brink goal (PPG, 7th goal of the season) at 11:04. Morgan Frost won the first draw cleanly to Travis Konecny. The combo of Konecny and Ristolainen got it back to the point. Brink snapped otff a shot that beat Jake Allen through some traffic for a 1-0 lead.

Philly struck again on the very next shift, as Joel Farabee (8th of the season) made it 2-0 at 11:32 Farabee trickled home a Laughton rebound in front. The sequence started with a neutral zone turnover by the Devils.

At 2:49 of the second period, Garnet Hathaway (7th) deflected a Cam York wrist shot into the net for a 3-0 lead. The secondary assist went to Ristolainen.

Nick Seeler laid a hit on Nathan Bastian at 7:34 and then tussled with Dougie Hamilton. Two minutes of 4-on-4 play ensued. At 9:14, Ersson denied Dawson Mercer from the left slot.

The Flyers went to their second power play at 9:52 when Konecny was tripped by Luke Hughes. With 42 seconds remaining on the 5-on-4, Anthony Richard had a look from the right circle. As the penalty wound down, Ersson erased a New Jersey 2-on-1.

The Devils' Jack Hughes won a left circle offensive zone faceoff after an icing call on the Flyers. They scored very shortly thereafter as a Hamilton shot (8th) from the right side popped in the air, went off Travis Sanheim and into the net at 18:47 to narrow the deficit to 3-1. The goal was officially unassisted.

Second period shots on goal were 15-11 New Jersey (23-20 Devils through two periods). The Devils closed the gap on faceoffs, going 11-for-17 (21-17 Flyers through two periods).

Ersson erased a dangerous Devils' chance off a neutral zone flub by Frost at 1:20 of the third period. He canceled out another tough chance several minutes later.

Around six minutes into the third period, Owen Tippett and Frost (sent just wide) had back-to-back scoring chances on a sequence started by Konecny and then a takeaway by Frost. Ersson made his 25 save at 6:56, turning Brett Pesce away.

Ersson took a delay of game penalty at 7:28 as he attempted to play the puck off the glass but put it over instead. Ersson erased his own penalty with PK saves on Ondrej Palat, Jesper Bratt and Dawson Mercer.

The Flyers had a golden scoring chance on a 2-on-1 rush to extend their lead. On a setup pass from Frost, Hathaway was denied from the bottom of the left circle by Allen. Three shifts later, Brink had a look from nearly the same spot.

With Allen pulled for an extra attacker, Timo Meier (15th) ripped home a one timer from the right side at 18:38 to cut the deficit to 3-2. The assists went to Bratt and Jack Hughes.

Finally, Konecny forced a turnover and fed Laughton (10th) for an empty-net goal from the blue line to seal the win at 19:45.

Ersson had a very strong overall game in making 31 saves on 33 shots. Allen stopped 22 of 25 shots.

The Flyers went 1-for-2 on the power play. They were 2-for-2 on the penalty kill.

Due to illness, Sean Couturier missed the game. Thankfully, Laughton was able to return from personal leave and his presence brought a lift to the club. With Egor Zamula dealing an upper-body ailment, Erik Johnson remained in the lineup.

Devils captain Nico Hischier ( upper body) is officially day-to-day and was unable to play. Jack Hughes (finger) did not participate in the morning skate but was able to be in the lineup.

FLYERS STARTING LINEUP

71 Tyson Foerster - 27 Noah Cates - 10 Bobby Brink

74 Owen Tippett - 48 Morgan Frost - 11 Travis Konecny

86 Joel Farabee - 21 Scott Laughton - 39 Matvei Michkov

90 Anthony Richard - 18 Rodrigo Abols - 19 Garnet Hathaway

6 Travis Sanheim - 9 Jamie Drysdale
8 Cam York - 55 Rasmus Ristolainen

24 Nick Seeler - 77 Erik Johnson

33 Samuel Ersson

[82 Ivan Fedotov]

PP1: Drysdale, Richard, Cates,Michkov, Foerster

PP2: Ristolainen, Frost, Konecny, Tippett, Brink

Scratches: 14 Sean Couturier (illness), 5 Egor Zamula (upper body), 44 Nicolas Deslauriers (IR), 25 Ryan Poehling (upper body).

TURNING POINT

The Flyers' four-minute penalty kill early in the first period was a springboard for the team to generate some confidence, energy and momentum.

POSTGAME 5 ("5 Things" Revisited)

1. Shot Suppression: The Flyers blocked 18 New Jersey shots through the game's first 40 minutes. They added 14 more in the third period to bring the final total to 32 (one fewer than the last time the teams played each other). The Flyers also did a good job of up-ice puck support, limiting chances to attack with speed in transition and taking away the middle in the defensive zone. Even with all that, New Jersey had 33 shots on goal.

2. Can Flyers break out of a scoring mini-slump? The Flyers scored three times on their first 12 shots, including Brink's power play goal.

3. Laughton back in the lineup: The Flyers alternate captain centered the third line in Couturier's absence. He generated a shorthanded scoring chance in the first period. Later, he had the initial scoring on Farabee's goal. Later, he took some shifts centering Konecny and/or Tippett. Finally, Laughton iced the win with an empty netter in the final 15 seconds.

4. Between the pipes -- Ersson vs. Allen: Ersson had a stretch of about five minutes in the second period in which he was largely left to fend for himself. He got through unscathed including a dynamic stop on Jack Hughes on a 2-on-1 rush. Ersson earned First Star honors.

5. Second period discrepancy: The second period saw the Flyers and Devils trade off one goal apiece. Given how dominant the Devils have been in second periods this season and the struggles the Flyers have had, it was a decent result. Ersson had a lot to do with it.