Flyers Drop Stadium Series Game, Lose to Devils, 6-3

EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ — The Philadelphia Flyers and Owen Tippett dropped their Stadium Series game to Nico Hischier and the New Jersey Devils, 6-3, at MetLife Stadium on Saturday night.

The Flyers fell into an early (32 seconds early) 1-0 deficit, with Travis Konecny and Cam York suffering a defensive breakdown that allowed Devils captain Nico Hischier to go down on Sam Ersson and score on a breakaway.

York pinched up the wall and failed to win the puck, while Konecny, supposed to be covering York at the point, also pinched up the wall. Hischier exploited the open space and raced down to open the scoring in this Stadium Series game.

Ten minutes later, Tyler Toffoli doubled New Jersey’s lead to 2-0 immediately after a faceoff, burying a loose puck at the far post unabated. After losing the faceoff, Morgan Frost drifted away from Toffoli and the faceoff circle, leaving the veteran unmarked to deposit a rebound past an unsuspecting Ersson.

Just before the midway point in the second period, Owen Tippett scored his 20th of the year, burying a laser from the high slot on a great feed from Konecny. The Flyers ruled the middle frame with an iron fist; at one point, they were out-shooting their opponents 21-7. Ultimately, what is on the scoreboard matters the most, and that was a 2-1 deficit.

And then it quickly became a 3-1 deficit for the Flyers after Brendan Smith swatted home a loose Ondrej Palat rebound at the side of Ersson’s crease. Nathan Bastian added to the Devils’ lead just over a minute later, but Tippett would quickly answer on the power play to keep things at a manageable two-goal deficit at 4-2.

The Flyers faced the kill shot early in the third period as Jack Hughes’s pass went between Ersson’s legs and through the crease without harm. Moments later, though, Hischier buried his second of the game from the high slot thanks to an alert pass from Jesper Bratt, giving the Devils a cushy 5-2 lead.

Down by three goals once again, head coach John Tortorella walked the Flyers’ bench up and down in search of game-changers, looking to see who would answer the bell in a time of crisis with just over half the period to go.

Nick Seeler first answered the call, going bar-down on Daws’s blocker side through heavy traffic to bring the Flyers within two.

Philadelphia had a chance to pot another shortly thereafter, but a mad scramble in front of Daws resulted in a lot of bodies in front and no goals scored. New Jersey had several moments where they just seemed to hold on for dear life, but it didn’t translate into much for the Flyers.

Moments after Hischier hit the post on an empty net to whiff on his hat trick, Bastian scored his second of the game to make the score 6-3, putting the final nail in the coffin for the Flyers.

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