The Philadelphia Flyers secured a 6-3 victory over the New Jersey Devils at Xfinity Mobile Arena on Saturday night. The win was highlighted by a strong first period in which the Flyers scored four consecutive goals after falling behind early, setting a new franchise record for goals in a single period this season.
Timo Meier opened the scoring for the Devils with a power-play goal, but Noah Cates quickly equalized for the Flyers. Matvei Michkov then gave Philadelphia the lead, followed by two quick goals from Tyson Foerster, putting the Flyers ahead 4-1 by the end of the first period.
In the second period, Bobby Brink extended Philadelphia’s lead before Nico Hischier responded for New Jersey. The teams entered intermission with the Flyers leading 5-2.
The third period saw Hischier score his second goal of the game to bring New Jersey closer, but Trevor Zegras answered back to secure Philadelphia’s three-goal margin. Assists on these goals were credited to several players including Sean Couturier, Travis Konecny, Egor Zamula, Nick Seeler, and others.
Goaltender Dan Vladar made 32 saves on 35 shots for Philadelphia. Jake Allen stopped 23 of 29 shots for New Jersey. The Flyers went scoreless on three power-play opportunities and killed one out of two penalties faced.
Flyers head coach commented on their approach: “The Flyers needed an all hands on deck approach to playing a very good New Jersey team. The four-goal explosion in the first period — led by Cates’ goal and two assists and Foerster’s two goals — was just what the doctor ordered.”
Discussing defensive play, he added: “The Couturier penalty killing turnover caused the PK structure to break down and forced Vladar to face a high-danger shooting gallery. However, at 5-on-5, the Flyers opened the game by holding the Devils to two scoring chances and just one high-danger chance. That was the kind of even strength start the Flyers wanted to establish.”
Emil Andrae and Jamie Drysdale were noted for their contributions as a defensive pair early in play. With Jack Hughes absent due to injury, Luke Hughes provided an assist on Hischier’s second-period goal for New Jersey.
Philadelphia’s starting lineup included forwards Trevor Zegras, Christian Dvorak, Owen Tippett; Tyson Foerster, Noah Cates, Travis Konecny; Matvei Michkov, Sean Couturier, Bobby Brink; Nicolas Deslauriers, Rodrigo Abols, Garnet Hathaway; defensemen Cam York – Travis Sanheim; Nick Seeler – Jamie Drysdale; Emil Andrae – Egor Zamula; with Dan Vladar in net.
