POSTGAME 5: Devils Blank Flyers, 3-0

In a battle of two struggling hockey teams, the New Jersey Devils had little trouble dispatching the Philadelphia Flyers, 3-0, at the Prudential Center on Wednesday night. Shut out for the fourth time this season, the Flyers (8-12-4 overall) are now winless in 10 games (0-8-2).

The Flyers were subpar in all three zones of the ice, severely lacking in five-man-unit cohesion: The team generated very little forechecking pressure in the attack zone. They struggled to navigate the neutral zone. They lost most of the 50-50 battles. The defense was erratic, chasing the puck at times with large seams in the passing lanes. Breakouts were rarely clean. Players often did not have their feet moving.
After a scoreless first period, Jesper Bratt (7th goal of the season) gave the Devils a 1-0 lead at 5:30 of the second period. Dawson Mercer (7th) added a power play goal at 11:35. Michael McLeod tacked on an empty net goal in the final 30 seconds of the game.
Carter Hart did his best to keep the Flyers in the game. He didn't quite have his A game going but battled for saves and came up with 24 saves on 26 shots.
Mackenzie Blackwood did not have to be spectacular. He was not tested often and turned back 25 mostly routine shots. The Flyers generated only two high-danger chances all night.
The Flyers went 0-for-2 on the power play. They were 2-for-3 on the penalty kill.,
Derick Brassard returned to the Flyers' lineup. He had missed six games with a hip issue.
TURNING POINT
The Devils were the better team pretty much the entire game. Their first goal felt inevitable in the second period, and it eventually came on a sequence where the Flyers chased the puck in the defensive zone and got carved.
MELTZER'S TAKE
1) The scoreless first period had a lot of whistles. The Flyers had several early turnovers on potential breakouts as well as icings on errant passes. First period shots were 11-9 in New Jersey's favor, with four of New Jersey's shots coming from the point. New Jersey had 20 of the 31 combined shots attempted in the first period. High-danger chances in the first period were 3-0 in New Jersey's favor, but Hart came up with the saves. New Jersey had some success navigating the neutral zone to gain entries. Philly did not match.
The Flyers won 14 of 21 faceoffs in the first period, including Claude Giroux going 7-for-7 However, Philadelphia generated little puck possession and no sustained pressure. From a Flyers' standpoint, at least they were not scored upon.
2) At 9:06 of the first period, James van Riemsdyk checked Michael McLeod as he turned toward the boards in the neutral zone. JVR received a two-minute minor. The Flyers got through the PK.
3) The Flyers juggled lines to start the second period and did additional tinkering during the stanza, but to little avail. It was a dreadful, low-energy period that saw the Flyers outshot 11-5, outchanced 7-2, and outscored 2-0. The Flyers offense was mostly one-and-done. The defense was porous.
4) Early in the second period, Hart stepped on saves against Jimmy Vesey, Yegor Shargovich, and Jack Hughes to keep the game scoreless. The Flyers' luck ran out at 5:30. The Flyers lost a faceoff, then soon found themselves chasing the puck around the defensive zone. The Devils passed the puck back-and-forth through gaping seams: Damon Severson to Nico Hischier to goal-scorer Bratt. For good measure, Travis Sanheim accidentally knocked the stick out of Hart's hands. Hart did his best to move back and forth across his crease but Bratt fired a shot inside the right post and under the crossbar.
Bratt Nico Hischier Damon Severson
The Flyers got their first power play at 6:38 of the second period. Andreas Johnsson interfered with Oskar Lindblom. The Flyers first power play unit got nothing going, The second unit had one good opportunity on a James van Riemsdyk chance near the net set up by Brassard; the Flyers first bonafide scoring chance of the entire game. JVR couldn't finish it.
Shortly after the Flyers power play expired, Konecny was called for goaltender interference after colliding with Blackwood when skating across near the crease. The Devils converted it into a Mercer deflection goal after he set up shop, untouched at netfront. The assists went to initial shooter Ty Smith and Bratt.
A second Flyers power play at 13:51 after Severson hooked Giroux produced no chances of note. At 18:07, awould-be goal by Pavel Zacha after a Travis Konecny turnover and a scramble in front came off the board on an off-side challenge by the Flyers.
5) The Devils took a 1:56 carryover power play into the third period after a frustrated Couturier took a needless tripping penalty in the neutral zone.The Flyers killed the penalty. Through the first 7:30, the Flyers only had two shots on goal; neither one a dangerous chance. At 8:30, Provorov hit the post off a Blackwood misplay.
The Devils were largely content to defend. The Flyers did little to force the issue. With 6:30 left, a Bastian deflection trickled between Hart's pads and onto the goal line before it was swept away by Provorov. Sanheim had a promising solo rush the other way shortly thereafter but couldn't score.
With about 3;30 to go, the Flyers pulled Hart for a 6-on-5. The Devils got an empty net goal from McLeod at 19:30. The assists went to Hughes and Sharangovich. Third period shots were 11-5 Flyers.