Photo: Andrew MacLean
With the lingering tension of a three-game losing skid pressing on their shoulders, the Devils traveled to Philadelphia on Sunday, March 9th, where they managed to find a much-needed 3-1 victory against the Flyers, who themselves were struggling to halt their own four-game downturn. Adding a spark to the Devils' effort, Cody Glass, making his debut after a recent trade from the Pittsburgh Penguins, opened the scoring, making a memorable start to his New Jersey tenure, and his presence was felt just beyond the goal, as he played a key role in the Devils' victory. Jamie Drysdale found the back of the net for the Flyers, helping them from getting shutout by Jake Allen and the Devils. The Devils head home to the Prudential Center on Tuesday to take on the Columbus Blue Jackets, while the Flyers host the Ottawa Senators in search of a win to end their losing streak.
New Jersey Devils Lineup:
Meier - Hischier - Noesen
Palat - Mercer - Bratt
Haula - Glass - Sprong
Tatar - Lazar - Bastian
Hughes - Pesce
Dumoulin - Kovacevic
Dillon - Cholowski
Allen
Markstrom
Philadelphia Flyers Lineup:
Foerster - Cates - Brink
Tippett - Couturier - Michkov
Lyeksell - Poehling - Konecny
Deslauriers - Abols - Pelletier
York - Sanheim
Seeler - Drysdale
Zamula - Ristolainen
Fedotov
Ersson
Cody Glass drew first blood, finding the back of the net for his fifth goal of the season, as well as his first as a Devil with 8:50 on the clock in the opening period. He beat Ivan Fedotov to the far side after a pass by Stefan Noesen, from the right corner in the offensive zone, which had bounced off Nick Seeler's skates, and right to Glass at the bottom of the right face-off circle for the 1-0 lead.
Early into the second period, Erik Haula picked up his sixth of the season, which had also been his first point since the 25th of November when he beat Ivan Fedotov past his glove after driving down the right side at 14:21. Haula made a pass to Brendan Dillon, who was down to the point, and Dillon passed it to Jonathan Kovacevic, whose shot was redirected off traffic at the top of the hash marks, finding Haula for the second Devils' tally to make it 2-0.
Jamie Drysdale ended Jake Allen's shutout late into the final frame, cutting it to 2-1 after a breakout pass from Travis Konecny. Making a pass to Konecny from the right corner in Philadelphia's zone, Drysdale drove down the ice after Travis got ahold of the puck, taking it back once he took Konecny's pass for the one and only Flyers' goal of the game with 4:46 on the clock. Dawson Mercer struck the empty Philadelphia net with just 18 seconds left to play in regulation right off the face-off with his 15th goal of the season, as well as his second in the past five games for the 3-1 final.
Cody Glass on how he felt out there/making first impressions quick, his line/Erik Haula, and understanding coming in how important a win like this is for the Devils/only giving up one goal: "I felt good. It helps to have Hals on my line, and then Spronger's kind of going through the same thing as me. Hals has done a great job of kind of making me feel a little bit comfortable. A lot of systems, a lot of stuff that I've been thinking on the ice. Once I get thinking out of the game, hopefully I feel a little more comfortable out there," - "That's huge. You know, they're missing players like Dougie and Jack. I haven't met them yet. It's a huge win, and obviously, we want to pile these wins up. It's a tight playoff race. It's cool coming in, getting a win right away, and hopefully, we just keep going from here."
Erik Haula on his first point/goal since November, Cody Glass and Daniel Sprong/his line: "It was getting a little frustrating for sure. A little spark of a couple of new guys, some fresh, positive energy, real solid," - "It was a good start yesterday during practice. It felt natural... They came in, it was a good day for us, and it's nice to get a start like that. Like I said, fresh, positive energy."
Notes:
- Jake Allen made a total of 23 saves for New Jersey.
- The primary assist on Erik Haula's goal had been originally credited to Cody Glass, which would've been his second point of the game in his Devils debut, however, it was recredited to Jonathan Kovacevic. With his assist, Kovacevic hit a new career-high in points with his 16th of the season (one goal, 15 assists).
- Two days after Jack Hughes was placed on long-term injured reserve following shoulder surgery, Cody Glass was added to the lineup after being traded from the Pittsburgh Penguins.
- With his goal, Glass became the third player to score in their Devils debut this season. He joins both Paul Cotter and Kovacevic, who each scored on October 4th. He was plus-2 in 12:21 of ice time.
- Daniel Sprong had a total of three shots on goal in 11:24.
- After being acquired in a trade with the New York Islanders on Friday, Dennis Cholowski played 13:27 in his Devils debut.
- Haula had a two-point game, picking up both a goal and an assist.
- NJ: 34-25-6, PHILLY: 27-30-8
- Ivan Fedotov made a total of 20 saves for Philadelphia.
- Jamie Drysdale skated in his 200th NHL career game.
- Nick Seeler had a game-high six hits and blocked three shots in 16:53 of ice time.
- The Philadelphia Flyers went 0-for-2 on the power play. They're 0-for-12 in their past five games.
- The Philadelphia Flyers' four-game losing streak is a season high.
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