The vibes around the Devils have turned in a hurry, as their losing streak reached four on Thursday night after surrendering a third period goal to the lowly Flyers to fall 2-1 in Newark.
New Jersey looked motivated to right the ship with an early goal in the first, but the Flyers responded and Carter Hart stood tall to make 48 saves in front of a frustrated crowd at the Prudential Center, one that had been on its feet throughout a chaotic second period that saw two fights, multiple breakaways, and a load of penalty calls.
New Jersey could have settled for a point in overtime, but a costly turnover by Damon Severson gave the lead to Philly in the third period.
The Devils went right to work early in the first, applying consistent pressure on Hart and drawing an early penalty on Kevin Hayes, who was whistled for hooking less than four minutes into the first period. After Dougie Hamilton settled down a clear attempt to keep New Jersey on the attack, Jack Hughes moved in on Hart's left, finessed his way through a pair of defenders, and lifted a wrist shot in the top corner on Hart's blocker side to give the Devils a 1-0 lead.
The Flyers nearly immediately answered when a loose puck came to Travis Konecny in the attacking zone, but a point blank shot from between the circles was gloved by Vitek Vanecek.
Philly found itself with another strong chance to tie the game when Miles Wood was sent to the box on a double minor for a high stick, but New Jersey went into intermission with its 1-0 lead still intact, and killed the remaining 43 seconds of Wood's penalty to start the second period without much danger from the Flyers.
Philly went right back on the man advantage when Ryan Graves was whistled for tripping less than five minutes into the second period, and this time, the Flyers pounced right away, as Scott Laughton blasted a shot past Vanecek for his fifth of the season to tie the game at one apiece.
The parade to the penalty box continued as the Devils were whistled twice more, one on Dougie Hamilton and another on Erik Haula, though New Jersey was able to kill the 5-on-3, and nearly stole a shorthanded goal when Yegor Sharangovich nabbed a loose puck and broke in on Hart, but his breakaway chance was denied with the glove.
The intensity continued when Michael McLeod and Nicolas Deslauriers dropped the gloves midway through the second period, both landing a couple punches in between long pauses before being sent to the box. McLeod represented the fifth Devils player to spend time in the box during the period.
That number grew to six just minutes after McLeod and Deslaurier's tussle, as Brendan Smith and Joel Farabee went at it after Farabee instigated the conflict when the two were tangled away from the action.
It was the Devils' turn for a two-man advantage later in the penalty-riddled second period, but the Flyers killed it and generated a golden shorthanded chance as Nick Seeler came out of the box as soon as Philly cleared the zone, grabbing the puck near center ice and breaking in all alone, only to be turned aside by Vanecek, and the two teams headed for the locker room still tied 1-1.
The Devils hunted for the go-ahead goal, but Hart continued to stand tall, denying a quality chance by Jesper Bratt early in the third. New Jersey was in the attacking zone again later in the period, but an errant pass by Severson at the blue line was picked off by Konecny, who took off and broke in on Vanecek, beating him blocker side on the breakaway to give the Flyers a 2-1 lead with just over eight minutes left in the third.
The Devils were never able to find the equalizer, as their losing streak lived on in a new low point of an otherwise resurgent season.
Follow Ryan Chichester on Twitter: @ryanchichester1
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