The New Jersey Devils went a little further south after their trip to Montreal. They made a stop in Philadelphia to take on the Flyers on Jan. 27 before they would head back home. The momentum of the OT win in Montreal was not enough to propel them as the Devils fell 4-2 to the Flyers.
Meier Only Top Six Forward to Score
A lot of the top six Devils players have been struggling lately. Many of them are seeing scoring droughts, going several games without getting a goal. Timo Meier was finally able to break his last night. He was the only top-six forward to score a goal.

With the extra attacker out on the ice towards the end of the third period, the Devils had to act fast. Jack Hughes was knocked down but got back up to his feet. Once he was back to a standing position, he had the puck and sent it to Jesper Bratt at the blue line. He saw Meier was open by the faceoff circle and passed to him. He took a slap shot from where he was standing to bring the Devils within a goal. The Flyers scored an empty netter to secure the win less than a minute later, but this play by Meier was a solid effort by the Devils.
This was Meier’s first goal since Dec. 31 when they played the Anaheim Ducks on their West Coast trip. In his last five games, he has recorded three assists total. One was recorded in Montreal on Jan. 25 and the other two were earned when the Devils hosted Boston on Jan. 22. Breaking his 12-game goal drought is a huge success for him. However, he should be scoring more consistently as a second-line player.
Playoff Standings
The Devils not earning the two points in this game was a blow to them. They currently stand at 62 points and are in third place in the Metropolitan Division. The Carolina Hurricanes are right above them with 64 points. If the Devils won this game against the Flyers, they would have been tied with the Hurricanes in the second spot.
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The wild card race continues to creep up higher to the Devils’ standings as well. The Boston Bruins are in the first spot for the Eastern Conference with 56 points. With only a six-point difference, the Devils are going to need to grab some points quickly to make sure the Bruins do not overtake them in the standings.
Devils Were Outplayed
Looking at the statistics from this game, it is clear that the Flyers had better control of the puck and their time on the ice. Out of the 50 faceoffs, the Flyers won 31 to give them a 62% faceoff percentage. The Devils trailed behind with their 38%. The Flyers also took more penalty minutes, eight compared to the Devils’ six. Even with these eight minutes where there was an extra attacker on the ice, the Devils were unable to take advantage of the opportunity. Only the Flyers were able to score on the power play. Their first goal was scored while Curtis Lazar was in the penalty box for tripping.
When the Devils did get the puck, they took more shots. They had 33 shots on net compared to the Flyers’ 26. Unfortunately, it was the Flyers who were able to make the most out of these shots, earning more goals than the Devils to give them the win.
Back Home
The Devils will head back home and get ready to host the Flyers on Jan. 29.
