1. The Devils were stingy They didn't have their A game offensively but they made up for that with very stout defense. Chances came few and far between for the Flyers. Though they scored a pair of goals in tight, they struggled mightily to get the puck into dangerous areas.
As you can see on the heat map, the Flyers didn't exactly open up a shooting gallery in the slot. They were generally held to shots above the dots, which is what the Devils need to make a habit of when Cory Schneider isn't between the pipes.
New Jersey's defense still isn't loaded with brand-name players but they've done a nice job of tightening up of late. The defense we see from them now is miles better than what we saw at the beginning of the year – remember all the track-meets they were involved in?
2. Power play prowess New Jersey's power play has been hit and miss this season. There have been times where they've looked like an elite unit and times where they're completely out of sorts. Last night, the former was the case.
The Devils moved the puck quickly and efficiently and were able to consistently get the looks they wanted until they converted.
They set up Kyle Palmieri for his patented one-timer on three of the six chances and the other three came from Pavel Zacha just outside the slot or Drew Stafford banging away on the doorstep. The Devils didn't settle for outside shots – they got the puck into dangerous areas and they were rewarded for it.
3. Zacha finally chips in Zacha is not the same caliber of player as Ivan Provorov, Zach Werenski, Mathew Barzal and some of the guys chosen after him – and he probably won't be – but that doesn't mean he can't still be a very useful player.
Lately, he has been just that.
In the 10 games prior to last night, the Devils controlled 57.3% of the shot attempts and 54.7% of the scoring chances with him on the ice at 5v5. He was playing well but just couldn't get anything to show for his efforts.
Last night, that finally changed as he picked up a pair of assists on beautiful passing plays to Kyle Palmieri and a pinching Damon Severson.
Perhaps equally as impressive as the production is the fact his line played ~8 minutes against Sean Couturier's at 5v5 – by far the most of any Devils unit – and not only held them off the scoresheet, but out-chanced them.
He's finally starting to come along.
4. Sami Vatanen was excellent It's a shame Vatanen was traded for someone as beloved as Adam Henrique because I feel he's not getting the recognition he deserves as a result.
He's (mostly) been solid since the Devils acquired him and that was the case again vs the Flyers.
His puck movement on the power play was *really* good – as advertised! – and he was on for just two scoring chances against in 14:15 of 5v5 ice despite playing the majority of his minutes against either the 1st or 2nd line. That equates to ~8.5 chances over a full game, which is remarkable regardless of the competition you're going up against.
Is Vatanen a No. 1 defenseman? No, but you're never getting that for Adam Henrique. He is, however, a much-needed upgrade on the back end and he's also under club control for a year longer than Henrique was.
5. Pick spots better I'm all for players standing up for their teammates but they really need to be smarter about it. And it's not just the Travis Zajac incident, which ended up costing the Devils a goal. The game before Nico Hischier cross checked Jack Eichel in retaliation to a hit on Jesper Bratt and that led to a Buffalo power play with ~2:40 remaining in the game. It didn't prove costly, but it easily could have as a Buffalo goal would have tied the contest.
The Devils are in a compact Metro Division and every point is pivotal so they can't afford to put those at risk by handing out power plays every time they want to defend a teammate.