Schmid, Mercer lead Devils past Flyers

NEWARK, N.J. -- Akira Schmid made 23 saves for his first NHL shutout, and Dawson Mercer extended his goal streak to six games for the New Jersey Devils in a 7-0 win against the Philadelphia Flyers at Prudential Center on Saturday.

"It feels great," Schmid said. "Obviously, the guys played amazing in front of me, not letting any chances happen, so shout out to them."
Jonas Siegenthaler had a goal and two assists, and Nico Hischier and Jack Hughes each had a goal and an assist for New Jersey (39-15-5), which finished 3-1-0 on a four-game homestand and is 8-2-1 in its past 11.
"We started the right way, didn't give them a lot and didn't have a lot of turnovers or give a lot of breakaways," Siegenthaler said. "We focused on that after the last couple games and did a pretty good job tonight."

Samuel Ersson made 29 saves in his first loss in eight starts (6-1-0) for Philadelphia (23-28-10), which has lost three straight (outscored 16-4) and is 1-6-1 in its past eight games.
"I let in seven goals ... I can't be happy," Ersson said. "But it's tough. I mean, I want to win every game. I want to save every puck. So, it's obviously a lot of goals. I have to make a couple of saves here."
Siegenthaler gave the Devils a 1-0 lead at 2:59 of the second period. After Miles Wood won the puck behind the Flyers' net, he made a one-handed push pass up the boards to Siegenthaler, who scored on a slap shot from the left point.
Hughes made it 2-0 at 8:35 when he collected a clearing pass by Siegenthaler at the Flyers' blue line and scored five-hole with his backhand on a breakaway.
"We have to button down even more," Philadelphia coach John Tortorella said. "I'm not sure if we win the game if we button it down. ... I think they're that good, Jersey. I'm not worried about the room. We just need to sustain the mental fight about how we've got to play."

Mercer extended it to 3-0 at 19:00 on a one-timer from the slot after receiving a centering pass by Hischier from the right corner.
"I was kind of just trying to get myself open," Mercer said. "I knew Nico saw me, he was looking around, and I was hoping their defense didn't realize, so I kind of just left it up to Nico."
Mercer has eight goals during his streak. At 21 years, 121 days, he is the youngest player in Devils/Kansas City Scouts/Colorado Rockies history to score in six straight games.
"It's all about momentum and once you get on a roll, a lot of good things happen," New Jersey coach Lindy Ruff said. "When you look at Mercer, it's almost anything he touches. ... I thought he had the best opportunity in the first period and shot it over the net on a real good look. Then he converts that great play from Nico coming out of the corner."

Hischier pushed it to 4-0 on a snap shot from the right face-off circle at 4:05 of the third period, and Dougie Hamilton scored 1:11 later with a wrist shot from the top of the right circle to make it 5-0.
Jesper Bratt scored backdoor at the left post after receiving a no-look backhand spinning pass from Hughes to make it 6-0 at 13:49.
Nathan Bastian, who was a healthy scratch the previous four games, scored on a tip-in from the slot at 16:00 for the 7-0 final.
"I thought, as a whole, it was one of our better defensive games," Ruff said. "We didn't give up a lot and Akira made the saves he needed to make. I thought his puck play was real good for us and he helped us on a bunch of breakouts.
"He's been a big part of where we're at with the [lower-body] injury to Mackenzie Blackwood. We needed him to step in and play well."
NOTES:Schmid, who was recalled from Utica of the American Hockey League on Tuesday, made his first start since Jan. 4 and won for the first time since Dec. 3 in Philadelphia. … Flyers forward James van Riemsdyk did not play for maintenance reasons, according to Tortorella, and defenseman Cam York was a healthy scratch. ... Flyers forward Elliot Desnoyers had two shots on goal, six hits and three blocked shots in 14:53 of ice time in his NHL debut. ... Siegenthaler had his second three-point NHL game. … The Devils celebrated the 2003 Stanley Cup team prior to the game. "It was pretty special and you could feel the emotion in the rink when they were coming out," Mercer said.