The New Jersey Devils lost 1-0 to the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday in their final road game of the season. It was a low-scoring affair, with the Flyers playing extremely conservatively to keep their playoff hopes alive. With the loss, the Devils fell to 38-38-5, while Philadelphia improved to 38-32-11.
Game Recap
Period One
It was a scoreless first 20 minutes at the Wells Fargo Center.
The Devils successfully killed two penalties, including about a minute of 5-3 play, to keep the game knotted at zero.
New Jersey was outshot 11-6.
Period Two
The Flyers opened the scoring at 10:50 with a shorthanded goal. Travis Konecny got behind the Devils’ defense and beat Kaapo Kahkonen on a breakaway. Scott Laughton and Nick Seeler collected the assists.
The Devils were outshot 6-5 in the middle frame.
Period Three
The Devils put eight more shots on net in the third but couldn’t find the tying goal.
They were outshot 21-20 in the loss.
Takeaways
Overall, the Devils didn’t have a bad effort in Philadelphia. They limited the Flyers to just 21 shots and, for the most part, held pressure to the outside. Offensively, they had opportunities but struggled to get pucks on Samuel Ersson with the Flyers’ intense commitment to shot-blocking. Ultimately, the one defensive miscue on the Devils’ power play cost them points in the contest.
Shot blocks were where the game was won for Philadelphia. They blocked a combined 23 shots in the game, stifling the Devils’ offense. At the other end of the ice, New Jersey only had nine blocked shots.
Despite the loss, Kaapo Kahkonen had another brilliant performance in net. He didn’t face a particularly heavy workload, but he made some crucial saves to keep the Devils in the game. He posted a .952 SV% and a 2.17 GSAx.
Up Next
The Devils return home to the Prudential Center for their final game of the season on Monday night, when they take on the New York Islanders.
This is the fourth and final matchup of the year between the teams, and the Devils will look to sweep the season series.
New Jersey tallied a 5-4 overtime victory on October 20, a 5-4 regulation win on November 28, and a 4-0 shutout win on March 24.
Puck drop is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. EST.
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