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Some takeaways from Flyers’ 3-1 win over New Jersey

The Flyers outchecked the high flying Devils to a well-earned 3-1 win over host New Jersey Saturday afternoon.

Jan 18, 2025; Newark, New Jersey, USA; Philadelphia Flyers center Sean Couturier (14) skates with the puck while being defended by New Jersey Devils defenseman Luke Hughes (43) during the first period at Prudential Center. Mandatory Credit: Ed Mulholland-Imagn Images

It was pretty if you love tight checking and chess matches on ice. With 32 shots total between both teams, the Flyers defeated the New Jersey Devils 3-1 in a hardfought but well-earned two points Saturday afternoon in New Jersey.

The basics

First period: 2:17 – Dougie Hamilton (Nathan Bastian, Tomas Tatar)

Second period: 1:56 – Matvei Michkov (Sean Couturier)

Third period: 12:44 – Bobby Brink (Noah Cates, Tyson Foerster) (PPG), 19:58 – Travis Konecny (Tyson Foerster) (ENG)

SOG: 18 (PHI) – 14 (NJD)

Some takeaways

Matvei magic

Matvei Michkov scored an overtime game-winning goal against St. Louis on a breakaway earlier this season. On Saturday afternoon, that type of goal was mirrored when he went in and beat Jake Allen on a breakaway to tie things up 1-1. It gave Michkov 14 goals for the season which leads all rookies in goals while he registered his thirty-third point of the year.

Minutes later Owen Tippett came in on a similar break but was unable to give the Flyers the lead.

Farabee fiery, Hathaway is Hathawaying

Who needs Nic Deslauriers when Joel Farabee is in the lineup? After wanting to take a piece of Maxim Tsyplakov on Thursday night, Farabee was at it again early but didn’t drop the gloves, instead making life difficult for the Devils. Farabee, on a line with Sean Couturier and Matvei Michkov, had a great chance flying down the wing. But Allen was able to just get a piece of it. Couturier’s line was one of the better ones all game.

Not to be outdone, Garnet Hathaway ran over Dougie Hamilton in the first before both headed to the bench. Later in the first he drew a penalty for the Flyers’ first power play. Bobby Brink set up Travis Sanheim for a good one-timer but Allen was there before New Jersey cleared.

Game-changing shift?

With half a period left, the Flyers found themselves bending but not breaking during an extended shift in their own end. After blocking a bevy of shots (including Drysdale who was hobbling around), Owen Tippett somehow ended up on a breakaway. He didn’t beat Allen but ended up drawing a penalty after New Jersey dominated a shift for one of the few times all afternoon. The Flyers fought for the puck for the first portion of the power play but ended up winning it, and Noah Cates fed a driving Brink in the slot and Brink scored the go-ahead goal.

Committed team play

After two periods, there was only one skater whose Corsi For % (CF%) was under 50 percent. Bobby Brink’s was 4-5 (44.44 percent) while Tippett, Cates and Tyson Foerster were all even at 50 percent. Everyone else seemed to be holding their own against New Jersey with Jamie Drysdale leading all Flyers with a stellar 19-6 advantage following 40 minutes of action. Even Olle Lycksell, who played a bit over five minutes through two periods, was 8-5 to the good.

The Flyers also blocked a ton of shots, 31 to be exact. Rasmus Ristolainen and Nick Seeler led the way with four apiece. Philadelphia iced the game when Tyson Foerster poked the puck outside the blueline to Travis Konecny who put it in the empty net to give Philadelphia nine out of ten points their last five games. And yet another regulation win!

Another early goal against

The game wasn’t even three minutes old when the Devils struck first. Defenseman Dougie Hamilton’s shot got through a lot of traffic and beat Ersson clean. The Flyers had a good shift afterwards with a chance by Morgan Frost but the Flyers weren’t able to beat Devils backup minder Jake Allen.

Fortunately for the Flyers and Ersson, he wasn’t leaky after that. Granted, Philadelphia didn’t give New Jersey a lot of looks, but a Paul Cotter shot 15 minutes into the first was gobbled up by Ersson easily. On a bad night or afternoon, that’s the type of shot that somehow finds its way through him. The low shot total was an even bigger feather in the Flyers cap considering the Devils lead the league with over 400 (415 to be exact) high danger shots.

Not a lot of ice out there

Philadelphia outshot the Devils 6-3 after one, so both teams tightened up defensively with a lot of effort needed by both sides just to get through the neutral zone still possessing the puck. The Devils’ chances were left to the perimeter as the Flyers did a great job of boxing New Jersey out. This type of play would, on average, keep the Flyers in the contest. They held their own, outchancing the Devils 20-11 overall five-on-five.

In the second period it was much more of the same, which is saying a lot given the long shifts in the middle frame. The lone time the Flyers were in a bit of trouble was when Couturier’s line was out for a while before icing the puck for a breather. They fortunately were able to hold on before a fresh five-man unit was able to get on.

Ersson again strong on penalty kill

The Flyers were guilty of another bad cross-ice pass at the opposing blueline that resulted in a holding penalty to Jamie Drysdale. The Devils almost doubled their shot total on the power play with Ersson stoning Dawson Mercer alone in the slot. Secod later he made another stellar save with his right pad as the Flyers held on and kept things tidy.

The Flyers almost gave up a second Devils goal early in the third when Jesper Bratt beat Ersson. However a quick challenge by the Flyers saw the goal overturned because of offsides. It would’ve been the ninth Devils shot on goal, but that was removed also. The eight total shots after two periods for New Jersey was their lowest two-period total in eight seasons!

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