The New Jersey Devils travelled down the turnpike to take on the Philadelphia Flyers for the first of four meetings this season. The Devils went into the game coming off an emotional 5-4 win against the New York Islanders. The Flyers lost against the Carolina Hurricanes 4-1 on Tuesday (Nov. 28) and looked to bounce back against New Jersey.
Dougie Hamilton missed his first regular season game after playing 102 straight. He was out with an upper-body injury and head coach Lindy Ruff said there should be a more definitive answer on him sometime today. Furthermore, Samuel Laberge made his NHL debut at 26 years old, after being recalled from the Utica Comets of the AHL on Wednesday (Nov. 29). Due to the Devils recalling another forward, Brendan Smith played as a defender for the game.
Akira Schmid made his seventh start of the season and went against Carter Hart who made his 14th start. New Jersey was able to pull off the win and defeat the Flyers 4-3 in overtime.
Action Packed Start
The first period has been notoriously poor for the Devils and they have often given up the first goal. However, Alexander Holtz scored the opening goal for New Jersey 3:10 into the game. Jack Hughes doubled the lead with a goal at 15:12 of the first period. Unfortunately, the positive start would be jaded by what happened at the 16:15 mark.
Garnet Hathaway was handed a five-minute major and a game misconduct for a hit on Luke Hughes. Hathaway hit Hughes when the players were waiting for an icing call. Unfortunately, the referees were extremely slow to blow the whistle and Hughes was hit hard into the boards. He immediately went down the tunnel and the Devils went on a five-minute power play.
However, L. Hughes miraculously came back for the start of the second period, which allowed the Devils’ hot start to the game not to diminish.
Penalties and Injury Scares Galore
The game finished with a whopping 12 penalties combined. The Devils went 1 for 5 on the power play. The Flyers went 2 for 6 on the power play. The Devils were also given a five-minute power play but did not convert. Then, with about four minutes remaining, J. Hughes was called for a penalty. The Devils were able to kill off 1:30 of it before Smith was called for a retaliatory slashing call. The Flyers converted to tie the game with 50.9 seconds left and force overtime.
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Along with a plethora of penalties, the Devils had two injury scares. First, L. Hughes in the first period, who passed concussion protocol and came back. Then, Nico Hischier fell hard into the ice and went down the tunnel during the third period. Fortunately, the captain was able to return and assist on the game-winner. With the team already struggling immensely with injuries, it would be another blow to lose anyone else.
Despite the team only scoring one power play goal on five chances, the first unit moved the puck well and had multiple quality chances on net. Hart was able to make incredible saves and keep the game within reach for the Flyers.
Schmid Stands Tall
New Jersey’s season in net has been underwhelming and not near good enough so far. Schmid had to enter the game against the Islanders to replace Vitek Vanecek, who had another poor performance. However, Schmid was extremely solid and gave the Devils a chance to win against the Flyers. He earned his third win of the season and made a career-high 45 saves. The goals that he gave up were unfortunate goals that were unlucky. Two out of the three goals came on the man advantage and the other goal made it through a maze of bodies to find the back of the net.
Schmid’s successful night in net is an encouraging sign for the team and the fans. Goaltending has been a glaring problem that is forcing general manager Tom Fitzgerald to look for options outside of the organization.
The team will look to carry the momentum that they have built with three straight wins and contributions from key players.
Quick Takeaways
- Hischier has registered five points in the three games since he has returned from injury.
- Luke Hughes is the first Devils’ rookie to score multiple overtime goals.
- Jack Hughes became the fastest player in Devils history to reach 20 assists in a season. He broke the previous record which was shared by Scott Gomez, Bruce Driver, and Kirk Muller.
- Samuel Laberge only played 4:00 and registered one hit.
- Tyler Toffoli scored his 12th goal of the season, which leads all Devils.
- The Devils tied their season-high win streak with three. They will look to extend the win streak against the San Jose Sharks tonight.
- Alexander Holtz has scored the Devils’ first goal in three of their last four games.