*Photo from AP News*
They took this one outdoors and settled it. Nathan Bastian scored two goals, Nico Hischier had two goals and an assist, and the New Jersey Devils defeated the Philadelphia Flyers with a 6-3 victory on Saturday night in East Rutherford.
Playing in front of over 70,000 people as part of the NHL Stadium Series, the Devils picked up their 3rd win in 4 games as they played the first outdoor game in New Jersey. John Marino, Ondrej Palat, and Curtis Lazar each had two assists for the Devils, while Brendan Smith had a goal and an assist.
New Jersey captain Hischer said of the experience that "It was a game you'll never forget. That's a win that brings the group together. Everybody had this circled on the calendar. We knew it was a big game already in the beginning of the year and how the standings are it was even a bigger game. This can bring the group together."
Just 32 seconds into the game, the Devils were on the board thanks to Hischier, who gave them a 1-0 lead on his 17th goal of the season, assisted by Palat and Marino. Tyler Toffoli then scored his 24th goal of the season to put the Devils ahead 2-0 after the first period.
Owen Tippett scored 7:43 into the second period for the Flyers, getting them on the board and cutting the deficit to 2-1. Smith and Bastian then contributed their second and 4th goals of the season respectively, putting the Devils ahead 4-1. Tippett scored a power play goal late in the period for the Flyers, making it 4-2 after two.
Hischier scored his second goal of the night 2:48 into the 3rd, with assists from Marino and Jesper Bratt to make it 5-2. Nick Seeler scored at the 9:07 mark of the 3rd for the Flyers, with his first goal of the season making it 5-3. Bastian sealed the 6-3 win for the Devils with an empty net goal, assisted by Lazar and Erik Haula.
New Jersey head coach Lindy Ruff said after the game "What a day. You use a football stadium. I thought it was so well done. The ice was good. You had two teams that competed hard. In the end we found a way to win a hockey game. All our fans that came out and supported us got rewarded with a heck of a game by our club."
It was Nico Daws who drew the start in the big game for the Devils, getting the win to improve to an even 6-6-0 in 12 starts. Daws stopped 45 of the whopping 48 shots he saw from the Flyers, giving him a .938 save percentage in the win.
Getting the start on the other end of the ice for the Flyers was Samuel Ersson, who fell to 15-10-4 in 28 starts as he took the loss. Ersson turned aside 34 out of the 39 shots on goal the Devils sent his way, recording a .872 save percentage.
Philadelphia head coach John Tortorella said of the loss that "I thought the most important part of the game was when we got it rolling in the second period, then we started taking penalties. Not so much being man down, but we're man down, 4-on-4. We needed another goal in the second period. I thought we were right there knocking on the door, but then we took some penalties, and it took us out of our flow."
Up next, the Devils hit the road to take on the division rival Washington Capitals on Tuesday night, with the projected starter being Vitek Vanececk. The Flyers have a road tilt on Wednesday against the Chicago Blackhawks, with Ersson expected to start.
Comments
Post a Comment