A valiant performance by the Philadelphia Flyers went for naught as the New Jersey Devils eked out a 3-2 decision at the Wells Fargo Center on Saturday evening. The Flyers outplayed the Devils for most of the night but they had no margin for error. The difference is that the Devils were a little more opportunistic in capitalizing on a couple of chances that arose.
POSTGAME 5: Valiant Effort Falls Short vs. Devils, 3-2
A valiant performance by the Philadelphia Flyers went for naught as the New Jersey Devils eked out a 3-2 decision at the Wells Fargo Center on Saturday evening
The Flyers outplayed the Devils in a scoreless first period. Philly also had an edge in play in the second period but the teams traded off goals by Fabian Zetterlund (5th goal of the season, PPG) and Travis Konecny (9th, PPG).
In the third period, two early goals by Dawson Mercer (6th) and Jack Hughes (13rth) propelled the Devils to a 3-1 lead. The Flyers drew back within 4-3 on a Lukas Sedlak goal (3rd) through traffic but couldn't find an equalizer. A potential tying goal by Joel Farabee was immediately waved off for goalie interference by Morgan Frost.
Carter Hart saw just 18 shots for the game, stopping 15. Akira Schmid got the win for New Jersey, stopping 31 of 33 shots.
The Flyers went 1-for-3 on the power play. The Devils were 0-for-3.
FLYERS STARTING LINEUP
13 Kevin Hayes - 49 Noah Cates - 11 Travis Konecny
71 Max Willman - 23 Lukas Sedlak - 74 Owen Tippett
21 Scott Laughton - 48 Morgan Frost - 86 Joel Farabee
44 Nicolas Deslauriers - 38 Patrick Brown - 17 Zack MacEwen
9 Ivan Provorov - 55 Rasmus Ristolainen
6 Travis Sanheim - 61 Justin Braun
24 Nick Seeler - 77 Tony DeAngelo
79 Carter Hart
[32 Felix Sandström]
TURNING POINT
The Flyers played an excellent game for roughly 55 of the game's 60 minutes, but it wasn't enough. Philly came out in the third period looking tentative. A communication mistake behind the net -- Hart was attempting to rim the puck around the wall, but Seeler was seemingly expecting a hand-off led to a very costly turnover. Shortly thereafter, Hughes outmaneuvered two Flyers -- Provorov and Cates -- and followed up his own rebound for an insurance goal that proved vital.
MELTZER'S TAKE
1) Dougie Hamilton slid into Hart after having a scoring chance from the right circle. At the other end of the ice, Konecny fired a shot on net.
Frost sprung Laughton for a scoring chance off the rush. Erik Haula was called for hooking Laughton at 3:24, giving the Flyers the game's first power play. Hayes rang a shot off the goal post. The Flyers then had two entry attempts broken just inside the blueline.
Shots on goal through eight minutes were 4-2 Flyers. At 8:50, Hart stopped a routine Eric Haula wrist shot from the top of the left circle. At 9:34, Hart denied a Tomas Tatar shot with some traffic.
Deslauriers broke up a play near the defensive blueline. He chipped it ahead to Frost, who fired a shot attempt from the left circle aimed for the blocker side at 12:30. The shot went over the net and hit the safety netting.
Ristolainen was called for tripping Nico Hischier behind the net at 14:42. The Devils went to their first power play. Sanheim cleared the puck from the corner about 18 seconds into the kill. Cates made two efforts along the defensive blueline to force it out of the zone. Deslaurier pressured Hischier into partially fanning on a shot. As the penalty expired without a Devils shot, Ristolainen joined Hayes for a counter attack chance. DeAngelo subsequently fired a slapper on net after stepping over the blueline.
2) The Flyers played a strong, structured first period and displayed tight checking and solid puck support. They were quick on retrievals, won battles on the walls and below the goal line and were also good in stick-on-puck plays. The Devils did not have a shot on goal in the final 10:26 of the frame.
Shots on goal were 12-4 in the Flyers' favor. Shot attempts were 17-6 Flyers. Scoring chances were 7-3 Flyers with a 2-2 high danger split. The Flyers won nine of 17 faceoffs.The Flyer were not charged with a giveaway in the period. Other than scoring a goal, the period went just about ideally for the Flyers.
3) In the second period, line of Farabee, Frost and Laughton had an early odd-man rush opportunity but Farabee chipped a backhander over the bnet. After a Farabee turnover, Jack Hughes countered but Braun neutralized the play. At 3:49, a Ristolainen shot attempt from the right circle was blocked. He then returned the favor at the other end.
Hayes powered through the middle for a chance off the rush. A little past the five minute mark, Farabee stole the puck in the defensive zone. DeAngelo had a pair of shots.
At 6:01, the Devils scored on their first shot of the period.Provorov lost the puck behind the net to Michael McLeod. Wood swooped around and backhanded the puck to an open Zetterlund after Willman missed a check. Zetterlund scored from nearly point blank range in the slot.
The Flyers went to the power play at 6:19 as Brendan Smith hooked Deslauriers in the Flyers' defensive corner. It took time to get set up but it ended well with all five Flyers on the ice getting a touch leading up to a final tic-tac-toe sequence: Hayes from the right circle to Cates along the goal line to the right of the net, out to Konecny in the slot, Konecny finished it off quickly. The goal ended an 0-for-20 spell on the power play for the Flyers.
On the next shift, the Flyers had both Braun and Sanheim on the same side, and Hughes centered a pass to Bratt in the slot. Hart made a tough save off his blocker.
At 9:17, Alexander Holtz was penalized for slashing the stick out of Tony DeAngelo's hands. Hayes had an early chance for Philly.
The Devils went to the power play at 12:50 when Braun was called for high-sticking Hischier. The Devils won the ensuing faceoff and applied pressure. Hamilton fired a screened shot off the post. DeAngelo cleared the puck after the Devils bobbled the puck on a rush. The Devils didn't score but looked more dangerous on this power play, and it carried into the resumption of 5-on-5 play Hart saved and held onto a McLeod shot for a stoppage.
The Cates line generated a strong shift, hemming the Devils in and Sanheim had three separate shot attempts. Late in the shift, Konecny turned the puck over in a dangerous spot. Miles Wood, tired at the end of the long shift, simply fired a weak shot on net to go off for a change.
4) The second period started out with the Devils continuing to be stymied by the Flyers' strong checking presence. It could have been very deflating when a single turnover turned into a New Jersey goal on their first shot of the period. But the Flyers' quick response on the power play was exactly what the doctor ordered. The rest of the period was a little more back-and-forth but still a good frame overall for the Flyers.
Second period shots on goal were 12-8 Flyers. Shot attempts were 22-18 Flyers. Scoring chances were 10-4 Flyers with a 5-2 high-danger edge to Philly.
5) In the third period, the Flyers came out very cautiously and made a costly mistake after two attempts to organize a rush failed. A puck exchange behind the net between Hart and Seeler went awry as the puck hit Seeler in the shin pad and was turned over to woo. A few moments later, Mercer had a wraparound into the vacated net at 1:39.
Laughton was unable to find a loose puck in front of the net off a Frost centering feed. On the next shift, Tippett jumped off the bench, double clutched on a bouncing puck but still fired off a shot from the hash marks.
The Devils opened a 3-1 lead at 6:56. Hughes shook loose from Provorov along the perimeter, and Provorov lost his balance. Hughes took the puck to the net past Cates, followed up his own rebound and scored. Haula drew the lone assist.
The Devils went to the power play at 10:36 when Frost was called for slashing on a backchecking attempt on Zetterlund. Philly navigated the kill. as it ended, Laughton had a rush attempt but his shot was blocked.
DeAngelo got a puck deep and the Flyers generated a wave of pressure -- even getting two-thirds of a line change. At 15:12, Sedlak fired a shot from high up through a heavy MacEwen screen. The assists went to Sanheim and DeAngelo as Philly narrowed the gap to 3-2.
At 15:50, a would-be tying goal by Farabee on a rebound was disallowed for goalie interference by Frost. Frost won an initial faceoff back to the point and went to the net. Jumping to get out of the way of the shot, he made incidental contact with Schmid.
The Devils iced the puck with 2:08 remaining in regulation. The Flyers pulled Hart for an extra attacker. New Jersey iced again with 1:54 left. Cates was unable to bury a rebound in the slot. Philly's Laughton and Farabee had one last glorious chance to tie the game but couldn't come up with a goal in a final scramble.
Third period shots on goal were 9-6 Flyers. Shot attempts were 20-17 Flyers. Scoring chances were 10-9 Flyers with an even 3-3 split in high-danger chances.
