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Flyers Gameday: 1/28/21 @ NJ |
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GAME 8: FLYERS @ DEVILS
In the final game of a four-game road trip, Alain Vigneault's Philadelphia Flyers (4-2-1) are in Newark on Thursday for the latter of back-to-back games against Lindy Ruff's New Jersey Devils (3-2-1) at the Prudential Center. Game time is 7:00 p.m. ET. The game will be televised on NBCSP.
This is the second of eight meetings between the teams this season. The teams will play each other on Feb. 11 and 13 at the Wells Fargo Center, March 23 at the Wells Fargo Center again, April 20 and then April 29 in Newark before wrapping up at the Wells Fargo Center on May 1.
On Tuesday, the Flyers prevailed, 5-3, in a seesaw game.
Philly got off to a slow start in the first period and then controlled the latter half of the period as a stabilizing shift on the forecheck by Scott Laughton's line turned the tide and a James van Riemsdyk power play goal put the momentum squarely on Philadelphia's side. Moments before the JVR goal, Yegor Sharangovich hit the post on a shorthanded breakaway.
The Flyers dictated the first 12 minutes of so of the second period, controlling territorial play for the longest sustained stretch of the season to date. An early 2nd period power play goal goal by JVR (again) built a 2-0 lead.
However, over the latter part of the second period, the Devils made a heavy push and rallied for goals by Michael McLeod (delayed penalty) and Travis Zajac that tied the score at 2-2.
The Flyers had some nervous moments in early in the third period, as New Jersey hit two goal posts A perfect setup by Claude Giroux to Nolan Patrick restored the lead for the Flyers. Joel Farabee then capitalized on a turnover to rebuild a two-goal edge for the Flyers. Provorov added a long-distance empty netter before Pavel Zacha scored in a late-game scramble to reduce the final margin of defeat to two goals.
Brian Elliott got help from his goal posts several times but also came up with some huge saves in stopping 23 of 26 shots to earn the win. An early-game breakaway save on Zacha proved huge before the Flyers finally got rolling. Scott Wedgewood denied 26 of 30 Flyers shots in a losing cause.
Flyers Outlook
Tuesday's game, while far from flawless, was a step forward for the Flyers and not just because it was a much-needed win. The Flyers had their longest in-game stretch of controlling the territorial play (although there were also stretches where they looked vulnerable) and struck twice on the power play.
Carter Hart will get the start in goal in this game. He, like the team as a whole, is off to a roller coaster start to the season.
Hart played very well overall -- minus a puckhandling gaffe -- in his first two starts of the season. The Flyers collectively were awful in a 6-1 loss to Buffalo that saw Hart pulled in the second period. In the first game in Boston, Hart worked out a shutout for two periods and was the biggest reason why the Flyers led, 2-0, despite being outplayed. In the third period, however, Hart yielded four goals including a stoppable Charlie Coyle tally that tied the game.
Two nights later, in a 6-1 debacle that saw the Flyers get thoroughly outworked, outmuscled, and outhustled, Hart was not awful but he also wasn't coming up with stabilizing saves as critical times. The sixth and final Bruins goal, scored on the power play by Brad Marchand, was a good shot from the right circle but a stoppable one to the short side with Hart in position to save it. At the end of the game, the normally serene Hart shattered his stick and tossed away the remnants.
Voracek, who recorded his 400th assist as a Flyer last game, and van Riemsdyk have both played well in three of the four games during the current 2-1-1 stretch. Shayne Gostisbehere, paired with Ivan Provorov, had an overall strong return to the lineup on Tuesday.
Phil Myers (ribs) returned to practice with the team yesterday; ahead of schedule from his original prognosis. He is not ready to play yet but appears to be closer than the original week-to-week timetable. Likewise, Sean Couturier (ribs) is skating again but not ready to play. Rookie center Morgan Frost (dislocated shoulder) remains off the ice.
Devils Outlook
Ruff complained about the officiating after Tuesday's game, which saw the Devils receive only one power play while being shorthanded five times. The Flyers' first power play came on a goalie interference call that was, at best, iffy.
Rookie defenseman Ty Smith has recorded six points (1g, 5a) through his first six games in the NHL. He posted at least one point in each of the first five games but the streak ended against the Flyers on Tuesday. Smith also had a costly third-period turnover that led directly to Farabee's goal.
Jack Hughes leads the Devils in scoring with seven points (3g,4a) but was held off the scoresheet on Tuesday. He was minus-two with three shots on goal. Agitating forward Miles Wood also has three goals on the season for New Jersey.
Jesper Bratt has completed his quarantine and is no longer on the COVID protocol list. He could return to the lineup for this game. However, goalie Mackenzie Blackwood and veteran defenseman Sami Vatanen remain in the protocol. Nico Hischier (leg) is not quite ready to play.
Projected lineups (Subject to change)
FLYERS
25 James van Riemsdyk - 13 Kevin Hayes - 93 Jakub Voracek
28 Claude Giroux - 19 Nolan Patrick - 11 Travis Konecny
23 Oskar Lindblom - 21 Scott Laughton - 86 Joel Farabee
12 Michael Raffl - 82 Connor Bunnaman - 62 Nicolas Aube-Kubel
9 Ivan Provorov - 53 Shayne Gostisbehere
6 Travis Sanheim - 61 Justin Braun
56 Erik Gustafsson - 39 Nate Prosser
79 Carter Hart
[37 Brian Elliott]
PP1: Giroux, Hayes, Voracek, JVR, Provorov
PP2: Lindblom,Patrick, Konecny, Sanheim, Gostisbehere
Scratches: 14 Sean Couturier (costochondral separation), Phil Myers (rib fracture), 48 Morgan Frost (IR, dislocated shoulder), 3 Mark Friedman (healthy), 8 Robert Hägg (healthy).
DEVILS
17 Yegor Sharangovich - 86 Jack Hughes - 21 Kyle Palmieri
44 Miles Wood - 19 Travis Zajac - 59 Janne Kuokkanen
97 Nikita Gusev - 37 Pavel Zacha - 63 Jesper Bratt
11 Andreas Johnsson - 20 Michael McLeod - 14 Nathan Bastian
22 Ryan Murray - 76 P.K. Subban
70 Dmitry Kulikov - 28 Damon Severson
24 Ty Smith - 7 Matt Tennyson
41 Scott Wedgewood
[1 Eric Comrie]
PP1: Sharagovich, Hughes, Wood, Palmieri, Subban
PP2: Johnsson, Zacha, Gusev, Smith, Severson
Scratches: 5 Connor Carrick (healthy), Will Butcher (healthy), 13 Nico Hischier (leg), 29 Mackenzie Blackwood (COVID-19 protocol), 45 Sami Vatanen (COVID-19 protocol), 19 Nick Merkley (healthy).
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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