After getting off to their best start to a season in over 20 years, the New Jersey Devils have lost two straight games.
The Devils gave up a late goal and a pair of empty-netters in a 5-2 loss to the Flyers on Saturday afternoon at Philadelphia in their first road game of the season.
Damon Severson and Brian Boyle scored the two Devils goals in the loss and both came on the power play, extending New Jersey's streak to six consecutive games with at least one power-play goal.
The Devils had six-game streaks with one or more power-play goals to begin a season twice before in club history, in 1985-86 and 1986-87.
Nolan Patrick, who was selected by the Flyers with the second overall pick of the 2017 draft after Nico Hischier was taken by the Devils first overall, scored his first career goal versus New Jersey.
Hischier, who did not have a point in Saturday's loss, has two goals and two assists in now five career games against Philadelphia.
Last Thursday night in Newark, the Devils lost for the first time this season, 5-3, to the Colorado Avalanche, as Gabriel Landeskog scored three goals, including the game-winner with 3:22 remaining in the third period.
It was the first hat trick against New Jersey since Jakob Silfverberg scored three times versus the Devils on March 14, 2016 at Anaheim in a 7-1 Ducks win.
The last opponent prior to Landeskog to score at least three goals in a game against the Devils in New Jersey was Patrick Sharp, who had a hat trick for the Blackhawks in a 5-3 Chicago win at the Prudential Center on Jan. 3rd, 2014.
Landeskog became the fifth player in Colorado/Quebec franchise history to score three or more goals in a game versus the Devils and the first for the Avalanche. The others were:• Jan. 29, 1983, Real Cloutier, NJD 4 at Que 6• Dec. 14, 1985, Michel Goulet (4), NJD 3 at Que 9• Dec. 14, 1985, Brent Ashton, NJD 3 at Que 9• March 6, 1995, Owen Nolan, NJD 3 at Que 6
Kyle Palmieri's goal-scoring streak came to an end, but the Devils' right wing picked up his first assist of the season in the loss, giving him seven goals and one assist for eight points in the first five games of 2018-19.
According to Hockey-Reference.com, the only players with more than eight points through five games of a season for New Jersey were John MacLean (4 goals, 6 assists, 10 points) in 1988-89 and Patrik Elias (3 goals, 6 assists, 9 points) in 2002-03.
Keith Kinkaid, who lost for the first time this season, had not been beaten in regulation since March 20, 2018, at San Jose, going 11-0-1 in his 12 regular-season games since.
Last Tuesday night at the Rock, the Devils got off to their first 4-0-0 start in a season since 1995-96, with a 3-0 win over the Dallas Stars.
New Jersey also won each of its first four games to begin a season in 1991-92 (4-0-0) and 1993-94 (7-0-0).
Palmieri opened the scoring at 3:42 of the first period to become the first player in NHL history to score his team's opening goal in four consecutive games to begin a season.
Only one player in NHL history scored his club's opening goal in five consecutive games at any point in a regular season -- Johnny Bucyk for the Boston Bruins from Dec. 2-11, 1965.
Kinkaid made 24 saves to record his second shutout of 2018-19.
Kinkaid, who also shut out the Capitals on Oct. 11, became the first goalie in club history to have two shutouts in the first four games of a season. Martin Brodeur had two shutouts in the first six games of the 2008-09 season.
Kinkaid also became the third different goaltender in franchise history to earn wins in each of his first four appearances in a season, joining Chris Terreri (1991-92, 1993-94 and 1998-99) and Martin Brodeur (1995-96).
Plus/Minus
Plus: Penalty Killing. New Jersey has killed off 22 of 25 opponent power plays this season, the fourth best percentage in the NHL.
Minus: Faceoffs. Without the injured Travis Zajac, the Devils lost 44 of 60 faceoffs in the loss to the Flyers.
