Atkinson hat trick propels Flyers past Devils

Cam Atkinson scored a hat trick and had an assist for the Philadelphia Flyers in a 6-1 win against the New Jersey Devils at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia on Tuesday.

"[Scoring] is one of the assets I bring to this team," Atkinson said. "I take a lot of pride in that. Usually, if someone scores a hat trick, you better win that game. But I think overall, our team played really solid tonight. Another stepping stone in the right direction."
Carter Hart made 26 saves, and Travis Sanheim and Oskar Lindblom each had a goal and an assist for the Flyers (11-12-4), who have won three straight after losing 10 in a row (0-8-2).
"The confidence we can have coming out of that is huge," Philadelphia coach Mike Yeo said. "That came because of their hard work. If we can look at that work and how we look as a team when we bring that, then I think that we have a chance to continue to build here."

P.K. Subban scored for the Devils (10-12-5), who have lost three in a row and are 2-7-2 in their past 11 games with each of the wins against the Flyers. Mackenzie Blackwood allowed five goals on 22 shots before he was replaced by Akira Schmid (seven saves) to start the third period.
The Devils were missing three players because of NHL COVID-19 protocol (defensemen
Ryan Graves
and Christian Jaros, and forward
Nico Hischier
) and are dealing with illness among the team.
"Blackwood was probably one of our sickest guys, and he decided to give it a go and gave it everything he had," New Jersey coach Lindy Ruff said. "He was probably exhausted after two periods, and we decided to take him out. All you can ask is to give what you have. You can't expect anything else."
Sanheim scored on a wrist shot from the left face-off circle to give the Flyers a 1-0 at 9:14 of the first period.
Philadelphia extended the lead to 2-0 with 1:25 remaining when Rasmus Ristolainen passed from the top of the right circle to Atkinson alone at the left post for a goal.
"I find it hard to sit here and make excuses because there were probably three or four goals we gave up that were really on the hands of all our players," Ruff said.

Justin Braun made it 3-0 at 6:07 of the second period when his long wrist shot fluttered over Blackwood's left shoulder.
Philadelphia's defensemen scored seven points (two goals, five assists), including two assists each from Ristolainen and Ivan Provorov.
"We want to get back on the offense," Sanheim said. "That's how we're going to be better defensively, is working together as a group, transitioning quick and playing in the offensive zone. I thought we did a good job of that tonight."

Subban took a pass from Michael McLeod and scored on a wrist shot from between the circles to make it 3-1 at 6:43 of the second.
Atkinson's shorthanded goal put the Flyers up 4-1 at 16:16. He took a stretch pass from Provorov before scoring on a slap shot near the right hash marks.
Lindblom pushed the lead to 5-1 with 1:40 left. After a New Jersey turnover, Atkinson set up Lindblom for a snap shot in the slot.
Atkinson completed the hat trick at 7:09 of the third period to make it 6-1, redirecting a pass from Claude Giroux in the crease.
"It's a play that's worked a lot for me in the past with centermen, something that him and I have been trying," Atkinson said. "So it's good to kind of get the icing on the cake. Obviously a great pass by him. I just had to beat my guy and put it in the back of the net."
NOTES:Flyers forward Morgan Frost left after playing two shifts in the first period. Yeo said after the game that Frost was removed due to COVID-19 protocol. … Blackwood lost to the Flyers for the first time in regulation; he is 8-1-2 against them. ... Atkinson has seven NHL hat tricks, the first six with the Columbus Blue Jackets. . … Atkinson and Giroux each was plus-5. … The Flyers did not have a power play for the first time this season. … Giroux has scored 882 points, one behind Bill Barber for second in Flyers history. Bobby Clarke is first with 1,210.