Flyers shut out by Devils, skid reaches 10

NEWARK, N.J. -- The Philadelphia Flyers lost their 10th straight game, 3-0 to the New Jersey Devils at Prudential Center on Wednesday.

"It's really difficult not to get wrapped up in the big picture right now," Flyers coach Mike Yeo said. "But if we're sitting here, looking at the losses that are piling up, and the streak that we're on right now, then we're really not looking at what's ahead of us. And, obviously, that affects your preparation while you're in the moment."
Carter Hart made 24 saves for the Flyers (8-12-4), who have been shut out twice and outscored 47-18 in an 0-8-2 stretch. Philadelphia lost its second game since firing coach Alain Vigneault and replacing him with Yeo on Monday.
"We just have to worry about the process and just try and get better every day," said Hart, who has lost his past six starts (0-5-1). "I know things are tough right now for our group, but we've just got to try and find the positives and keep working because it's going to come."
Mackenzie Blackwood made 25 saves for his second shutout of the season, and Jesper Bratt had a goal and an assist for the Devils (10-9-5), who had lost four in a row.
"I felt like we really needed a win tonight," Blackwood said. "I felt like we should have gotten a win last game (a 3-2 shootout loss to the Ottawa Senators on Monday). We played pretty well last game and tonight, but definitely a must win for us. It's great that we came out on the right end."

Blackwood, who is 8-0-2 with two shutouts in 10 career games against the Flyers, got the eighth shutout of his NHL career.
"I thought that was probably our best game, defensively," New Jersey coach Lindy Ruff said. "Not a lot of breakdowns ... a couple that Mackenzie had to clean up for us. We were diligent with our play in our own end, put the puck in a lot of good places, we had people back protecting the middle of the ice and played a solid game."
Bratt gave the Devils a 1-0 lead at 5:30 of the second period, scoring with a wrist shot from the right face-off circle on a give-and-go with Nico Hischier.
"[Bratt] creates a lot of his own opportunities," Ruff said. "I really feel with his speed and his deception that he's going to get a chance every one or two games. Not everybody gets a chance every game to score; you might go a game or two before you get a Grade A chance, but he gets one or two every night and he's taken advantage of those chances.
"I think he's scratching the surface ... there's still more there."

Dawson Mercer scored his first goal in eight games to give New Jersey a 2-0 lead on the power play at 11:35. He deflected Ty Smith's point shot in the slot.
"Just to get the goal and feel good, that's what I like to do," Mercer said. "I love creating offense, and it was great to get one on the power play too, to give us some momentum and just keep on going the rest of the game."
Pavel Zacha scored from the slot for the Devils at 18:07, but the goal was overturned on a coach's challenge by the Flyers for offside.
Blackwood stopped Travis Sanheim with his left pad after the defenseman skated down the slot for a backhand at 13:59 of the third period.
"I didn't know he was going to go backhand before he did, but I just try and challenge him because he's in a great spot," Blackwood said. "He made some moves and I just tried to stay with him as best I can. Thankfully, he hit the pad with that one. I'll take it."
Michael McLeod scored into an empty net at 19:30 for his first goal of the season and the 3-0 final.
NOTES:Flyers forward Derick Brassard went 7-for-8 on face-offs and had two hits playing 14:20 in his return from missing six games with a hip injury. ... Philadelphia was 40-for-59 on face-offs; forward Sean Couturier was 11-for-13. ... The Flyers' longest stretch without a win is 12 games; they went 0-8-4 (ties) from Feb. 24-March 16, 1999. … Bratt leads the Devils with 22 points (seven goals, 15 assists) in 24 games.