Postgame RAV4: Flyers Down Devils

The Philadelphia Flyers defeated the New Jersey Devils, 6-3, at Xfinity Mobile Arena on Saturday night.

The Flyers had their biggest offensive explosion of the season in Saturday's first period. Down 1-0, they struck right back for four quick goals in succession. In the process, they set a new franchise record.

Timo Meier (PPG, 5th) got the Devils on the board first. Noah Cates (5th) quickly evened the score. Shortly thereafter, goals on three consecutive shifts by Matvei Michkov (5th), Tyson Foerster (6th) and Foerster again (7th) suddenly put the Flyers ahead, 4-1.

Bobby Brink (6th) and Nico Hischier (5th) traded off second period goals. The Flyers took a 5-2 edge to intermission.

Hischier (2nd of the game, 6th of the season) and Trevor Zegras (7th) closed out the scoring in the third period.

Dan Vladar made 32 saves on 35 shots. At the other end, Jake Allen stopped 23 of 29 shots.

The Flyers went 0-for-3 on the power play. They were 1-for-2 on the penalty kill.

First period synopsis

Neither team registered a shot through the first 3:20. Vladar had easy saves on the game's first two shots. Emil Andrae had the game's first legitimate scoring chance, cutting into the slot.

The Devils got the game's first power play at 6:18. Cam York went off for hooking Paul Cotter in the defensive zone. A Sean Couturier turnover to Nico Hischier caused a flurry of chances for the Devils. Finally, on New Jersey's fourth prime chance, Meier scored off a defender for a 1-0 lead at 7:37. The assists went to Jesper Bratt and Hischier.

The Flyers got the goal back at 9:00. Cates cleaned up an Egor Zamula rebound to tie the score at 1-1. Zamula pinched in and fired a quick shot on net and created the second-chance opportunity. Travis Konecny earned the secondary assist.

At 12:06, Couturier put a perfect lead pass to Michkov for a breakaway. The Russian forward scored through the five hole to put the Flyers up, 2-1. The lone assist went to Couturier.

The Flyers struck again at 12:15. Cates made a backhanded saucer pass across to Foerster in the left circle. Foerster immediately fired off a shot through defenseman Jonas Siegenthaleer and into the net. The assists went to Cates and Konecny.

A mere 17 seconds after play resumed, Cates combined with Foerster again. This time, Foerster fired from outside the right dot. The puck went off Jake Allen's stick and into the net. The assists went to Cates and Nick Seeler.

The Flyers went to their first power play at 14:44. Arseni Gritsyuk got the game for hooking. Philly moved the puck very well but Allen robbed Cates on the doorstep on a York rebound. At 16:36, Konecny and Brenden Dillon went off for coincidental roughing minors. Philly did not score on the power play.

With 1:34 left in the period, Michkov and Gritsyuk traded off slashes and both went to the box. Michkov had an extra roughing minor attached (although it was more accurately a Michkov slash and a roughing retaliation from Grutsyuk).

The Devils took 26 seconds of carryover power play time into the second period.

Shots: Flyers 10 - Devils 9

Faceoffs: Flyers 10 - Devils 12

Second period synopsis

The Flyers killed off the remainder of the carryover penalty. Trevor Zegras then set up a point-blank scoring chance. Philly went to the power play at 1:12 on a Hischier high-sticking infraction.

Jamie Drysdale sprung Konecny all alone on Allen. The goalie made the save.

Brink beat Allen upstairs. Couturier got it started with a nice play in the neutral zone. The lone assist went to the Philadelphia captain at 11:42.

New Jersey's Hischier cut the gap to 5-2 at 16:16 off a cross-seam feed. Luke Hughes and Jesper Bratt assisted.

Shots: Flyers 10 (20 overall) - Devils 13 (22 overall)

Faceoffs: Flyers 8 (18 overall) - Devils 10 (22 overall)

Third period synopsis

The goal for the third period was to not give the Devils anything to get excited about.

At 10:38, Simon Nemec tripped Garnet Hathaway. The Flyers didn't score but two more minutes ticked down off the clock.

Hischier struck for his second goal of the game, tipping in a Nemec shot at 13:27. Bratt got the secondary helper. However. The Flyers responded quickly again, as Zegras restored a three-goal lead with a breakaway goal. The helpers went to Owen Tippett and Christian Dvorak at 15:21.

Shots: Flyers 9 (29 overall) - Devils 13 (35 overall)

Faceoffs: Flyers 11 (29 overall) - Devils 7 (29 overall)

Flyers Starting Lineup

Trevor Zegras - Christian Dvorak - Owen Tippett
Tyson Foerster - Noah Cates - Travis Konecny
Matvei Michkov - Sean Couturier - Bobby Brink
Nicolas Deslauriers - Rodrigo Abols – Garnet Hathaway

Cam York – Travis Sanheim
Nick Seeler – Jamie Drysdale
Emil Andrae – Egor Zamula

Dan Vladar
[Samuel Ersson]

Postgame Rav4 (Rav4 Things Revisited)

1. From A(bols) to Z(egras)

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.

2. Defensive structure

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.

With a big lead, the Flyers were a little looser than ideal but the Devils never truly threatened a comeback.

3. Andrae-Drysdale defense pair

Emil Andrae made his presence know early in the first period. Drysdale created a great chance for Konecny.

4. The Hughes factor

With Jack Hughes sidelines with an upper body injury, defenseman Luke Hughes set up Hischier's goal in the second period.