Flyers score 4 quick goals in 1st period in win against Devils

PHILADELPHIA -- The Philadelphia Flyers scored four straight times in the first period, including three goals in 26 seconds, in a 6-3 win against the New Jersey Devils at Xfinity Mobile Arena on Saturday.

Tyson Foerster scored twice, and Noah Cates had a goal and two assists for Philadelphia (11-6-3), which has won three of four (3-1-0). Matvei Michkov, Bobby Brink and Trevor Zegras also scored, and Dan Vladar made 32 saves.

"I think we were pretty predictable," Flyers coach Rick Tocchet said. "Had a little bit of a game plan. It was good. I thought the forecheck was good, obviously, some good, nice goals. Some good shots, some nice plays. It was a good start."

Nico Hischier had two goals and an assist, and Timo Meier also scored for New Jersey (13-7-1), which lost its third straight game (0-2-1) to end a five-game road trip. Jesper Bratt had three assists, and Jake Allen made 23 saves.

Meier put the Devils ahead 1-0 with a power-play goal from the right post at 7:37 of the first period. But what happened after is where the Devils felt the game turned on them.

"You look at how we managed the two shifts after we score," New Jersey coach Sheldon Keefe said. "Our power play goes out, works their [tails] off, scores us a big goal to get us on the board. The next two shifts after that really let us down and gets them in the game, gets the crowd going. Then we just unravel from there.

"Those two shifts after we make it 1-0 ... those two shifts, from what should be our hardest working people, those are unacceptable. That's something we've got to address."

Cates tied it 1-1 at 9:00 after Allen swept the rebound of an Egor Zamula shot onto his stick in the right slot.

Michkov then started the Flyers' goal binge when he scored on a breakaway at 12:06 to make it 2-1.

Foerster then scored twice in 17 seconds. He extended the lead to 3-1 at 12:15 when he scored on a one-timer from the left side, and pushed it to 4-1 at 12:32 after scoring off the rush from the right side.

The three-goal run was the fastest in Flyers history, surpassing the three they scored in 35 seconds twice previously (March 1, 1979, against the Boston Bruins; Oct. 7, 1982, against the Quebec Nordiques).

"I think we were opportunistic on our chances early on, and kind of played off of it, I would say, the rest of the game," said Flyers captain Sean Couturier, who had two assists. "It's good for the confidence to get a couple goals like that, and it's something to build on."

Brink scored off the rush to give Philadelphia a 5-1 lead at 11:42 of the second period.

"Last two games we're confronting more at the blue [line], and that's how you get odd-man rush chances," Tocchet said. "You back in, it's hard to get odd-man rushes. And then once we counterattacked, then you take off. That's where I felt the last couple of games, getting more of those type of goals and those chances."

Hischier made it 5-2 at 16:16 when he scored on a one-timer from the right hash marks set up after a move to get into the slot by Luke Hughes.

Hischier cut it to 5-3 at 13:27 of the third period, redirecting a Simon Nemec point shot with Allen pulled for the extra attacker.

Zegras scored on a breakaway at 15:21 for the 6-3 final.

The Devils outshot the Flyers 26-19 through the final two periods, but the belief was their play in the first is what led to the loss.

"I thought we started not bad and we got one on the power play and just folded," Hischier said. "We were sleeping for a couple shifts and they made us pay. It's hard to chase it when it's that deficit. ... When we get scored on, we stopped competing for a bit and that's underneath our standard. Competing should be non-negotiable. It's part of our identity. You don't need to have skill to compete, and we lost that and they made us pay."

NOTES: Foerster's two goals in 17 seconds were the fourth fastest scored by a Flyers player, and the fastest since Jeff Carter scored twice in 13 seconds on Jan. 8, 2008. ... Michkov's goal and Foerster's first goal, scored nine seconds apart, were the second-fastest two goals in the NHL this season, after the Buffalo Sabres' Ryan McLeod and Mattias Samuelsson scored eight seconds apart against the Chicago Blackhawks on Friday. ... Philadelphia had scored one first-period goal in its previous six games. ... Flyers forward Owen Tippett had an assist to give him seven points (one goal, six assists) during a four-game streak. ... The Flyers have allowed the game's first goal in seven straight, but are 4-1-2 during that span. ... Hischier's first goal made him the fourth Devils player to score 100 on the road in his career. ... It was New Jersey's first loss in regulation (9-1-1) when scoring the game's first goal. ... Devils forward Arseny Gritsyuk was held out of the final 5:54 of the game for precautionary reasons, Keefe said. The forward had left the bench earlier in the game because of an undisclosed injury.