Wayne Simmonds, Sami Vatanen and Taylor Hall each scored, but the Devils fell to the Flyers 4-3 in a shootout on Friday at Prudential Center. But more importantly, they survived a potential injury scare to face-of-the-franchise Jack Hughes.
The Flyers’ Sean Couturier scored in regulation and had the only goal in the shootout. Oskar Lindblom and Joel Farabee also scored for Philadelphia. Carter Hart had 23 saves.
Hughes, the No. 1 overall pick in the NHL draft, played just four minutes in the first period before going to the locker room after he was hit hard into the end-boards by Flyers defenseman Matt Niskanen. Kyle Palmieri came to the defense of his teammate, picking up 17 minutes in penalties (two for instigating, five for fighting and 10 for misconduct), while Niskanen picked up a five-minute penalty for fighting.
Hughes returned at the start of the second period.
Farabee’s first career NHL goal at 8:31 of the third period tied the game and forced the extra period. The goal came after Michael Raffl’s wrap-around shot bounced off Mackenzie Blackwood and out to Farabee on the point.
Farabee nearly won the game in overtime, but his rebound off his own shot was kicked in. Blackwood also had a glove save on Claude Giroux to end overtime.
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Hall scored a goal midway through the third period to give the Devils a 3-2 lead. Hall managed to slide a shot past Hart as Shayne Gostibehere moved past and shielded a shot as he was pushed from behind and into the goal post by Justin Braun.
“I know it happened very, very quickly and my head was in the ice but anytime there’s the puck is there you just get your stick going north and see what happens,” Hall said. “But it was nice to see that go in. It hasn’t been a great year for me goal-scoring wise and any time you can get a goal, especially a goal that was harder, those kind of mean a lot.”
The Flyers took a 2-1 advantage at the 8:26 into the second after the Devils failed to clear the zone and Couturier fired in a shot that bounced off of Devils defenseman Matt Tennyson and into the goal.
The Devils answered with 5:32 left in the second. Nico Hischier passed to Sami Vatanen at the center point and he scored past Hart on the power play as Giroux served a tripping penalty.
Simmonds opened the scoring with a power-play goal against his former team 6:24 into the first off a pass from Jack Hughes.
Midway through the period, the Devils turned the puck over at center ice and Lindblom scored for the Flyers, with the assists going to Travis Konecny and Sean Couturier.
The Devils appeared to take a 2-1 lead later in the period when Nico Hischier put a loose puck into the net on a rebound, but the goal was waved off.
“They said because we shot it that went under him and that was the difference as opposed if their guy shot it into them,” Devils coach John Hynes said, adding that the referees told him the play couldn’t be reviewed.
Simmonds opened the scoring with a power-play goal against his former team 6:24 into the first off a pass from Jack Hughes.
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