Postgame 5: Flyers Drop 3-1 Verdict to Devils

The Philadelphia Flyers lost to the New Jersey Devils, 3-1, at Wells Fargo Center on Saturday afternoon. A late push by the Flyers fell short. The Devils halted a three-game losing streak, while Philly has lost four games in a row.

The Flyers came out of the gates in the first period with more energy and focus than they displayed the previous day against Seattle. Shots on goal were 4-2 Flyers through 8:07.

New Jersey took a 1-0 lead at 11:10. Cody Glass (5th goal of the season), with Owen Tippett going to the net, had the puck come to him with an open lane in the slot. Matvei Michkov got caught behind the play up ice and didn't get back in time to provide support. Two Flyers down low in the D zone were also guilty of some puck watching. Stefan Noesen and Luke Hughes picked up the assists.

With 3:53 left in the first period, Jesper Bratt outwaited a sliding Egor Zamula, whose momentum took him out of the play. Ivan Fedotov stopped Bratt's left wing shot aimed for the five hole.

First period shots on goal were 8-5 Flyers. The entire frame was played at five-on-five. Early in the second period, Tyson Foerster and Olle Lycksell had chances in transition.

Dawson Mercer hit the post at 4:29 of the second as he ripped a shot from the deep slot. New Jersey extended the lead to 2-0 at 5:39 as Erik Haula (5th) scored from the right circle. A Brenden Dillon point shot was blocked down before Johnathan Kovacevic passed to an oncoming Haula.

Second period shots were 11-6 Devils (16-14 New Jersey through 40 minutes). The middle frame. like the first, was entirely played at 5-on-5.

At 5:49 of the third period, New Jersey benefitted from a rather quick whistle with Foerster digging for the puck in a scramble around the net. The game's first penalty finally came at 10:32 as Noesen was called for a marginal trip of Michkov. The Flyers were unable to generate any pressure on goalie Jake Allen until the final few seconds.

Jamie Drysdale (4th) broke up the shutout bid for New Jersey at 15:14. Taking a pass from Travis Konecny, Drysdale moved in one-on-one with Allen and scored. Foerster earned the second assist.

Travis Sanheim was called for a crosschecking penalty in the neutral zone with 90 seconds left in the game. The Flyers called a timeout with 21.4 seconds left in regulation. New Jersey's Noesen (15th) added an empty net goal, assisted by Haula.

In a losing cause, Fedotov stopped 20 of 22 shots before he was pulled for an extra atttacker. Winning goalie Allen denied 23 of 24 shots.

The Flyers went 0-for-1 on the power play. They went 1-for-1 on the penalty kill.

FLYERS STARTING LINEUP

74 Owen Tippett - 14 Sean Couturier - 39 Matvei Michkov

71 Tyson Foerster - 27 Noah Cates - 10 Bobby Brink

15 Olle Lycksell - 125 Ryan Poehling - 11 Travis Konecny

44 Nicolas Deslauriers - 18 Rodrigo Abols - 22 Jakob Pelletier

8 Cam York - 6 Travis Sanheim

24 Nick Seeler - 9 Jamie Drysdale

5 Egor Zamula - 55 Rasmus Ristolainen

82 Ivan Fedotov
[32 Samuel Ersson]

Scratches: 36 Emil Andrae (healthy), 19 Garnet Hathaway (upper body).

PP1: Ristolainen, Konecny, Cates. Foerster, Michkov

PP2: Drysdale, Tippett, Couturier, Lycksell, Brink

TURNING POINT

The Glass goal was a multi-players structural breakdown by the Flyers. It gave New Jersey the first tally of the game in a meeting to two teams struggling lately for positives off which to build.

POSTGAME 5 ("RAV4 THINGS" REVISITED)

1. Between the pipes -- Fedotov: "Feddy"did what he could to keep the game winnable. He got no goal support.

2. Structure and transition game: There was nowhere to go but up, structurally speaking, from the Flyers' execution against Seattle on Saturday. The Glass goal was a setback, and things went south in significant portions of the second period. The third period was fairly even.

3. Michkov watch: Flyers rookie right winger Matvei Michkov sat on the bench for the rest of the period after the Glass goal. He returned for the second period.

4. Lines in a blender? Flyers head coach John Tortorella sent Travis Konecny out for two late first period shifts on the Couturier line. There was some minor combination variation in the second period. There were large-scale changes to start the third period (Foerster with Poehling and Konecny, Cates centering Lycksell and Brink, Couturier's first shift was with the fourth line). Couturier late played with Brink and Tippett for a shift before Cates was back centering Brink and Lycksell.

5. Key New Jersey injuries -- Jack Hughes, Dougie Hamilton: The Devils clearly miss both players but they did enough to defeat the Flyers on Sunday.