Bullied: Devils Dominated Early, Suffer Ugly Loss to Flyers

They tried to outlaw bullying, but the New Jersey Devils were victims to it on Saturday night against the Philadelphia Flyers.

The Devils’ even strength woes returned in to start Saturday night’s tilt despite holding a lead. It’s something that was present before Jack Hughes went down with an injury. However, as he remains sidelined through at least December, it’s more evident than ever.

New Jersey is struggling to generate with 10 skaters on the ice. It’s a puzzling development with a roster that’s flush with talent.

Certainly, injuries play a factor. Their best forward and defender—Brett Pesce—are each sidelined.

Yet, there’s enough talent on the roster that this five-on-five issue shouldn’t be as prevalent as it is.

Alas, the Devils were dominated early against the Flyers, which ultimately led to their seventh loss of the season. The slope is getting more slippery with such parity in the Metropolitan Division, and Eastern Conference.

Let’s dive into the Devils’ 6-3 loss to the Flyers.

Period One

The Flyers won the opening draw, but the Devils quickly retrieved the puck and put three shots on goal against Dan Vladar in the opening five minutes. Emil Andre countered with an impressive drive to the Devils’ net, going forehand to backhand with pressure by the Devils’ defense, but sailed the puck over the net, negating a Flyers scoring chance.

However, the Devils regained puck possession with authority, and drew a penalty when Cam York hooked Paul Cotter. The first power play unit went to work in the offensive zone. After Vladar did all he could to keep New Jersey off the board, the Devils broke through. Timo Meier scored his sixth goal of the season—a power play tally—to give the Devils a 1-0 lead.

What came next, perhaps no one could have predicted. The Flyers went on to score four consecutive goals 2:32 apart, three of which were netted 25 seconds apart from each other. The first was scored by Noah Cates to tie the game, then Matvei Michkov, and two by Tyson Foerester, quickly giving the Flyers a 4-1 lead.

The remainder of the period between the Metropolitan Division rivals became chippy. There was plenty of post-whistle altercation, starting between Brenden Dillon and Travis Konecny after the Flyers pressured Allen seeking a fifth goal.

Then, Michkov’s and Arseny Gritsyuk’s tempers boiled over, as the two young Russian forwards each sat for roughing minors.

The first period ended with 26 seconds remaining on the Devils’ power play as they trailed 4-1 heading into the first intermission.

Period Two

The remaining 26 seconds on the power play quickly faded, and even strength ensued.

New Jersey remained a step behind Philadelphia, and the Flyers piled on the scoring chances, while the Devils chased the puck.

When the game opened up a bit, the Nico Hischier and Dawson Mercer lines were finally able to generate a bit of offensive zone pressure.

However, the Flyers added to their lead at the 8:18 mark of the middle frame, when Bobby Brink unleashed a shot on Allen, who was seemingly blinded by Jonas Siegenthaler, to extend Philly’s lead to 5-1.

The Devils show a bit of fight near the end of the period, after Luke Hughes fed Hischier with a pass in the slot, and the captain scored on a one-timer to cut Philly’s lead to 5-2.

Period Three

The third period certainly brought a sense of desperation for the Devils, who pretty much dominated the puck in the Flyers’ end of the ice.

Through the first 10 minutes of the final frame, the Devils held an 8-3 shot advantage. They produced quality chances, too, such as Meier feeding Bratt backdoor for a tap-in chance. Yet, a sprawling Vladar stopped Bratt, and maintained the Flyers’ three-goal lead.

Sheldon Keefe opted to pull Allen with nearly seven minutes left in the third period. It quickly took effect, and Hischier scored his sixth goal of the season to cut the deficit to two goals.

Yet, defensive lapses persist for New Jersey, allowing Trevor Zegras behind the defense with the puck, and he scored on the breakaway to regain Philly’s three-goal lead, making it a 6-3 game.

The buzzer sounded, and the Devils suffered their seventh loss of the season in ugly fashion.

Allen made 21 saves on 28 shots in his fourth loss of the season.

The Devils finished the game with 35 shots on goal.

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