The Philadelphia Flyers had their opportunities but couldn’t capitalize on any of them vs. the New Jersey Devils.
Aiming to earn their third straight win following a 3-0 victory over the Detroit Red Wings in their last contest, the Philadelphia Flyers played host to the New Jersey Devils. On the other side of things, the Devils were hoping to snap a three-game losing streak and earn just their second win in the previous seven games. Brian Elliott received the nod in-net, opposing MacKenzie Blackwood on the other end of the ice.
The Flyers certainly could’ve had a better start to this contest, allowing the game’s first goal 13 seconds in to gift New Jersey with a 1-0 advantage. Blake Coleman was left alone in the slot and capitalized on a centering pass from Travis Zajac for his 20th tally on the season. This marked the 23rd time Philadelphia surrendered the first goal of the contest in 2019-20, but only the eighth while skating at the Farg. While the Devils controlled play through the middle of the frame, the Orange and Black finally woke up in the latter minutes to take a 9-6 shots on goal advantage at 5v5. However, they still trailed where it mattered most as Blackwood stood tall to finish the first. Moose also came up big in the opening 20, keeping the deficit at one with two crucial saves while NJ was shorthanded.
New Jersey doubled their lead within the initial four minutes of the second as Damon Severson netted a power-play goal for his seventh tally of the year. This tally was one that the Flyers needed Elliott to come up with, given the shot going above his right shoulder. Both sides traded chances and man-advantage opportunities as the period went on but couldn’t find twine, keeping it a 2-0 affair heading into the third.
The Devils, once again, put another one home in the early goings of a period, scoring yet another shorthanded goal to put themselves up three. New Jersey had Pavel Zacha to thank for the game’s third goal, as he potted his fifth of the year and a 2-on-1 rush. Miles Wood scored two goals of his own soon after, which caused AV to pull Elliott in favor of Alex Lyon, and New Jersey would go on to win the game by a score of 5-0. Even though Philadelphia out-shot and chanced the Devils at 5v5, according to Natural Stat Trick, Philly struggled to solve Blackwood throughout the night, leading to a shutout loss for the Fly Guys.
The Flyers are now 29-18-7 on the season. Next game is Saturday against the Washington Capitals.