Postgame RAV4: Flyers Beguile Devils, 5-1

The Philadelphia Flyers defeated the  New Jersey Devils, 5-1, at the Prudential Center in Newark on Tuesday evening. The Flyers swept their three-game season series with the Devils.

The Flyers' Trevor Zegras (24th and 25th goals of the season) struck for two quick goals early in the first period: one at full strength and the other on the power play. After the quick Philadelphia barrage, New Jersey dictated the play for most of the period. Cody Glass (18th) got one back in the middle stages of the frame. Philadelphia took a 2-1 lead to intermission.

In the second period, it was Tyson Foerster's turn to score quick back-to-back goals (12th and 13th). Matvei Michkov assisted on both tallies. On the latter, Zegras collected his third point of the night. Philly went on to control most of the frame -- minus two penalties -- and carried a 4-1 lead to the second intermission.

Dan Vladar cranked out another outstanding game whenever tested. The Czech Olympian turned aside 23 of 24 shots. Jacob Markstrom (13 saves on 17 shots) took the loss.

With the victory, the Flyers maintained its third-place position in the Metropolitan Division.

FIRST PERIOD SYNOPSIS

Travis Konecny had the Flyers' first shot -- and scoring chance -- of the game. 

After the next shift started, Zegras provided a 1-0 lead. Owen Tippett  froze the defense, and went behind the net and passed to Sanheim. Sanheim then threaded a perfect pass to Zegras, who finished it off at 1:56. Sanheim and Tippett collected apples.

As play resumed Jack Hughes tripped up Owen Tippett. On the 5-on-4, Tippett was denied from the bumper by Markstrom. Shortly thereafter, Martone attacked on the rush and sent a dart of the pass to Zegras, who directed it into the net at 3:17. The assists went to Martone and Drysdale at 3:38.

Vladar erased a turnover that went directly to Dawson Mercer. Two shifts later, the Flyers turned over another puck -- this one on a breakout attempt. Vladar made a clutch save on Jack Hughes.

After a TV timeout, Jack Hughes fired a shot that caught the post. On Hughes' next shift, Dougie Hamilton had a scoring chance that Vladar stopped.

At 12:12, Cody Glass cut the gap to 2-1. The initial shot from Jonas Siegenthaler in traffic went up in the air, hit Vladar in the back, and went into the net. Vladar lost sight of the puck after the initial save. 

The Hughes brothers nearly combined to strike after the puck was taken away from Cam York. New Jersey continued its run of controlling possession. Two shifts later, Vladar had to be very sharp to deny Nico Hischier.

Martone made a gorgeous area pass that Dvorak was able to skate into and get off a shot.

As play entered the final minute, Markstrom made a tough save on Foerster.

Shots: Flyers 7- Devils 10 (shot attempts were 23-9 Devils)
Faceoffs: Flyers 5 - Devils 6

SECOND PERIOD SYNOPSIS

York jumped out too soon and touched the puck to prevent a 2-on-0. Philly was called for too many men on the ice (Michkov served the penalty). The Devils went to the power play at 0:31.

With play back at 5-on-5, the Flyers scored on a 2-on-1. Puck carrier Foerster elected to shoot and found the net for a 3-1 edge at 2:45. Michkov, who made the initial pass, got the lone assist.

Jesper Bratt had a breakaway. He backhanded a shot over the net. The Flyers countered and scored again. Zegras elected to pass rather than shoot, freezing Markstrom. Foerster wired home another goal at 4:58 once once he corralled the puck.

Konecny picked off a pass at center ice with their neutral zone forecheck. It didn't result in a goal but it was nicely conceived.

Bidding for a natural hat trick, Foerster fired a shot that went through Markstrom. However, the puck went wide.

Through 11:36, shots were 6-3 Philadelphia.

Cates took a delay of game penalty, sending the puck over the glass from the defensive zone at 12:38. A Hughes shot got redirected onto Vladar. Couturier broke up a cross-seam pass and cleared the zone. Two additional clears followed the next two entries. Later in the kill, Vladar made two outstanding saves on Timo Meier. Vladar subsequently stopped Jack Hughes.

Markstrom gloved down a Drysdale point shot with 2:06 remaining in the period.

Shots: Flyers 8 (15 overall) - Devils 9 (19 overall)
Faceoffs: Flyers 15 (20 overall) - Devils 5 (11 overall)

THIRD PERIOD SYNOPSIS

The Flyers had some early nervous moments as Vladar was able to corral a loose puck. They held on and finally cleared the zone. New Jersey continued to try to make east-west plays.

Tippett won a foot race for a loose puck and sent a gorgeous pass from behind the net out to Foerster. The puck handcuffed Foerter, however.

The Flyers took their second delay of game penalty -- this time Denver Barkey -- at 8:20. New Jersey did not record a shot. A Jack Hughes setup for brother Luke Hughes missed connections.

Ristolainen caught a high stick from Brian Halonen at 10:47. Markstrom fought off a Martone shot. New Jersey cleared the rebound down the ice. Upon re-entry, Tippett attempted to toe-drag around Siegenthaler. He subsequently tried a between-the-legs play.

Konecny made a nice play from his knees behind the net, intended for Dvorak. Subsequently, the Devils went offside at 15:01. Shots were 4-2 New Jersey, but nearly all the play was bottled up in the middle. 

The Devils pulled Markstrom for an extra attacker as play resumed. Vladar covered a Meier deflection off a point shot that missed the net as play resumed, Vladar made a pad save on Bratt. Play continued. Finally Tippett got the puck out of the zone and the Devils brought it back in offside. The play was ruled and intentional offside.

New Jersey pulled Markstrom again. Finally, Seeler flipped up the puck and it landed to slide into the empty net at 17:09. The goal was unassisted.

Shots: Flyers 3 (18 overall) - Devils 5 (24 overall)
Faceoffs: Flyers 7(27 overall) - Devils 9 (20 overall)

FLYERS STARTING LINEUP

Tyson Foerster – Trevor Zegras – Owen Tippett
Travis Konecny – Christian Dvorak – Porter Martone
Alex Bump– Noah Cates – Matvei Michkov 

Denver Barkey – Sean Couturier --  Luke Glendening

Travis Sanheim – Rasmus Ristolainen
Cam York – Jamie Drysdale
Nick Seeler – Emil Andrae

Dan Vladar
[Samuel Ersson]

Postgame RAV4 (RAV4 Things Revisited)

1. Goals from different sources

Just what the doctor ordered: three different players with multi-point nights by the end of two periods and two players with two goal games going.

2. Neutral zone forecheck

The Flyers had puck management issues in the first period that gave New Jersey short ice too often. However, in the second period, the Flyers' puck management improved significantly and their 1-2-2 neutral zone forecheck clicked in place. New Jersey found itself frustrated and Philly truly took over control. 

As the third period rolled around, the Flyers continued to break up attempted plays by New Jersey.

3, Special teams

The Flyers went 1-for-2 on the power play. They were 3-for-3 on the penalty kill. Winning the special teams battle was a big factor in the victory.

4. Tyson Foerster

In his fourth game since returning from injury, Foerster notched his second and third goals since coming back.