Home NHL The Philadelphia Flyers Sweeps Devils In Their Two Game Series

The Philadelphia Flyers Sweeps Devils In Their Two Game Series

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Photo Credit:NJ Devils

Prudential Center— Flyers’ goalie Carter Hart made 33 saves and forward Michael Raffl scored the go-ahead goal in the third period for the Philadelphia Flyers’ 3-1 victory over the New Jersey Devils on Thursday night to complete a two-game series sweep.

Damon Severson gave New Jersey an early lead with a great shot after a rush from his own end. The Devils outshot the Flyers 24-8 in the first and second periods.

“I mean it was unreal, words can’t really describe it,” Prosser said about his goal. “I never gave up hope over the last few years. Last year was down (in the minors) all year and the year ended in March and not playing a game until tonight was an eye-opening experience for me.”

Captain Claude Giroux scored his first of the year and defenseman Nate Prosser who spent last season in the AHL, scored on a rebound in close to tie the contest. The veteran played in his first NHL game since Jan. 17, 2019 with Minnesota.

“They say never critique a win,” said Flyers coach Alain Vigneault. At the end of the day we played one period where we played with energy and the way you’re supposed to play on the ice.”

Defenseman Damon Severson scored for the Devils, and Scott Wedgewood made 14 saves. New Jersey were without their top goalie Mackenzie Blackwood after a positive COVID-19 test.

Giroux made it 3-1 a little more than four minutes later, deflecting a point shot by Erik Gustafsson past Wedgewood, who made his fourth straight start.

“The effort, energy, and the way we skated, that’s probably as good, as good as we can play in the first 40 minutes,” Devils coach Lindy Ruff said. “And still had some good looks in the third period, too.”

Flyers Carter Hart, who broke his stick in frustration after giving up six goals to Boston over the weekend, was the difference in the first two periods. He downplayed his performance, calling it just another game.

 

NOTES: The Flyers were 39-for-53 (73.6 percent) on face-offs. Philadelphia defenseman Ivan Provorov played a game-high 27:38 and had four blocked shots. Ruff is 739-557-126 with 78 ties with the Devils, Dallas Stars (328 games) and Buffalo Sabres (1,165). Bratt had two shots on goal in 20:47 in his season debut after being removed from the NHL COVID-19 protocol list on Wednesday.

 

MILESTONES

New Jersey center Travis Zajac played in his 998th regular-season game. The 15-year veteran, who has spent his entire career with the Devils, is expected to play in his 1,000th game on Sunday.