Devils thwart listless Flyers
For one night at Continental Airlines Arena, it was "Flashback: Old NHL" as the Devils knocked off the Flyers 3-2. Once New Jersey scored in the 3rd period to take the 3-2 lead, they cut off the air supply to the Flyers offense for the final 16 minutes of the game.
Zach Parise got the party started for the Devils with a power play goal at the 9:08 mark of the first period. The shot actually deflected off the stick of Flyer defenseman Joni Pitkanen, and over the shoulder of netminder Antero Niittymaki. In fact, all three Devils goals in tonight's game came off deflections.
Philadelphia wasted no time coming right back on New Jersey. After a 4-minute minor was called on Devils captain Patrik Elias for high-sticking, Mike Knuble scored on a pretty pass from Peter Forsberg. Forsberg appeared to be wrapping around the net, but instead dished it back to Knuble, catching goaltender Martin Brodeur off guard to tie the game at one a piece.
In the second period, it was Knuble again knocking on Brodeur's doorstep. He cut to the net and received a crisp pass from Geoff Sanderson, banking it home to put the Flyers ahead 2-1. They had a chance to head into the third period with a 2-1 lead, but Jamie Langenbrunner would have none of it.
On a point shot from Brian Rafalski, Langenbrunner deflected the puck past Niittymaki and into the net to tie the game at 2-2 heading into the 3rd. The momentum certainly carried over for the Devils, who quickly took a 3-2 lead on Brian Gionta's fourth goal of this young season. Looks like missing training camp and the preseason didn't hurt Gionta, who now has 4 goals and 3 assists on the year.
The Flyers fought to try and tie the game up, but were outshot 9-0 before they got the puck on the net in the third period. That first shot took over 11 minutes to develop, and by that point, the team appeared as if they had run out of steam. They had some late chances, but even with the goaltender pulled, failed to make anything out of the opportunities.
Antero Niittymaki played fantastic again in goal for the Flyers, but he has been getting the short end of the stick for sure. He stopped 29 of 32 shots tonight in the losing effort, while Martin Brodeur countered with 23 stops on 25 shots, making all the key saves in the game to lift the Devils to victory.
The power play struggled once again, as the Flyers went 1 for 8 on the man advantage in the game. Knuble scored that only goal for the Flyers in the 2nd period. After the 10:11 mark of the 2nd period, the Devils were free of penalty for the rest of the evening. Playing 30 minutes without drawing a penalty in today's NHL can kill a team, and it did just that to the Flyers tonight. The Flyers fall to 1-3-1 with the loss, as the Devils improve to 3-1 on their season.
For one night at Continental Airlines Arena, it was "Flashback: Old NHL" as the Devils knocked off the Flyers 3-2. Once New Jersey scored in the 3rd period to take the 3-2 lead, they cut off the air supply to the Flyers offense for the final 16 minutes of the game.
Zach Parise got the party started for the Devils with a power play goal at the 9:08 mark of the first period. The shot actually deflected off the stick of Flyer defenseman Joni Pitkanen, and over the shoulder of netminder Antero Niittymaki. In fact, all three Devils goals in tonight's game came off deflections.Philadelphia wasted no time coming right back on New Jersey. After a 4-minute minor was called on Devils captain Patrik Elias for high-sticking, Mike Knuble scored on a pretty pass from Peter Forsberg. Forsberg appeared to be wrapping around the net, but instead dished it back to Knuble, catching goaltender Martin Brodeur off guard to tie the game at one a piece.
In the second period, it was Knuble again knocking on Brodeur's doorstep. He cut to the net and received a crisp pass from Geoff Sanderson, banking it home to put the Flyers ahead 2-1. They had a chance to head into the third period with a 2-1 lead, but Jamie Langenbrunner would have none of it.
On a point shot from Brian Rafalski, Langenbrunner deflected the puck past Niittymaki and into the net to tie the game at 2-2 heading into the 3rd. The momentum certainly carried over for the Devils, who quickly took a 3-2 lead on Brian Gionta's fourth goal of this young season. Looks like missing training camp and the preseason didn't hurt Gionta, who now has 4 goals and 3 assists on the year.
The Flyers fought to try and tie the game up, but were outshot 9-0 before they got the puck on the net in the third period. That first shot took over 11 minutes to develop, and by that point, the team appeared as if they had run out of steam. They had some late chances, but even with the goaltender pulled, failed to make anything out of the opportunities.
Antero Niittymaki played fantastic again in goal for the Flyers, but he has been getting the short end of the stick for sure. He stopped 29 of 32 shots tonight in the losing effort, while Martin Brodeur countered with 23 stops on 25 shots, making all the key saves in the game to lift the Devils to victory.
The power play struggled once again, as the Flyers went 1 for 8 on the man advantage in the game. Knuble scored that only goal for the Flyers in the 2nd period. After the 10:11 mark of the 2nd period, the Devils were free of penalty for the rest of the evening. Playing 30 minutes without drawing a penalty in today's NHL can kill a team, and it did just that to the Flyers tonight. The Flyers fall to 1-3-1 with the loss, as the Devils improve to 3-1 on their season.
posted by Victor at 7:19 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home