Patrick goal in third boosts Flyers to win against Devils

NEWARK, N.J. -- James van Riemsdyk scored two power-play goals for the Philadelphia Flyers in a 5-3 win against the New Jersey Devils at Prudential Center on Tuesday.

Ivan Provorov had a goal and two assists, Claude Giroux had three assists, and Brian Elliott made 23 saves for the Flyers (4-2-1), who won for the first time in three games.
"It was a game of momentum swings, but I thought [Giroux] competed real hard to set the tone," Philadelphia coach Alain Vigneault said. "It's the type of work ethic that we need. We're not going to be perfect, we're going to make mistakes, and we're going to need our goaltenders to cover up for some of those mistakes. But we battled, found a way to get the job done in the third, and for our group that's a very positive sign."
Nolan Patrick scored at 7:03 of the third period to give the Flyers a 3-2 lead after the Devils came back from down two goals in the second.
"[Giroux's] a nice guy to play with, sees the ice so well, makes great plays," Patrick said. "[Travis Konecny] made a nice play down low, and I had some room in the slot and was trying to find [Giroux], and he had a lot of poise to get it back to me."

New Jersey came close to taking the lead early in the third. Andreas Johnsson hit the crossbar at 1:37, and Damon Severson hit the post at 3:50.
Joel Farabee made it 4-2 when he scored off a rebound at 12:36, and Provorov scored into an empty net at 18:24 for a 5-2 lead.
Michael McLeod, Travis Zajac and Pavel Zacha scored, and Scott Wedgewood made 26 saves for the Devils (3-2-1). Wedgewood made his third straight start since goalie Mackenzie Blackwood was placed on the NHL COVID-19 protocol list Jan. 21.
"That might be one of the games that could have been two points our way, for sure," Wedgewood said. "We did a good job bearing down and we didn't give up on those plays off the post. Our guys were still whacking the stick around the net, but it can go either way. And that's kind of what the hockey gods wanted for us, I guess."

The Flyers and Devils will play again in New Jersey on Thursday.
Van Riemsdyk gave Philadelphia a 1-0 lead when he deflected a shot from the slot at 15:03 of the first period. The goal came 52 seconds after New Jersey forward Yegor Sharangovich hit the post on a shorthanded breakaway.
Van Riemsdyk made it 2-0 on another deflection at the left post 59 seconds into the second period. Four of his five goals this season have been on the power play.
"You try to use the time that you have in the offseason to prepare yourself the best you can to play, and sometimes you get a little bit of puck luck and stuff like that too, so that's been good," van Riemsdyk said. "Obviously, I'm just trying to go out there every game and be consistent from game to game, practice to practice. We have a lot of good players to play with, so that makes it fun."

McLeod scored his first NHL goal in his 39th game to pull the Devils within 2-1 at 11:59 after he took a backhand pass in the slot from Miles Wood.
"It [stinks] we couldn't get the win, but I'm really happy to get that one," McLeod said. "A lot longer than I wanted, but happy to finally get that one."
Zajac scored on a tip-in from the slot at 16:43 to tie the game 2-2.
Zacha scored on a rebound to make it 5-3 with 1:08 remaining.
NOTES: Flyers defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere was plus-2 with three shots on goal in 21:57 in his season debut. He was removed from the NHL COVID-19 protocol list Thursday. ... Giroux became the longest-tenured captain in Flyers history, playing his 611th game in the role to pass Hockey Hall of Famer Bobby Clarke. ... Johnsson had an assist on Zajac's goal for his first point with the Devils.