WRAP: FLYERS BLANK DEVILS, 4-0
There was much to like on Wednesday night, as the Flyers whitewashed the New Jersey Devils, 4-0 at the Wells Fargo Center to open the 2019-20 season with a 2-0-0 record. The Devils fell to 0-2-1.
After a somewhat disjointed first period, the Flyers dominated the middle frame but could only muster one goal. The Flyers added a quick pair of early goals in the third to pull away and did a strong job in closing the game out thereafter.
The most important two minutes: Holding a 1-0 lead late the middle frame, the Flyers found themselves down on a 5-on-3 penalty kill for a full two minutes. They had their No. 1 and No. 2 centers in the box. Goaltender Carter Hart made a spectacular 10-bell glove save on Taylor Hall and the rest of the PK stepped up to kill the penalty.
Hart earned his first NHL shut out, stopping all 25 shots he faced. In addition to the save on Hall, he made an earlier highlight reel save late in the first period as he moved post-to-post to prevent what initially looked like it'd be a slam dunk off the rush.
Special teams was a critical factor in Philly's victory, as the Flyers went 2-for-4 on the power play and 5-for-5 on the PK with a 12-second 5-on-3 kill in addition to the aforementioned two-minute kill.
The Flyers got goals from Ivan Provorov (power play, 1st), Kevin Hayes (power play, 1st of the season and first as a Flyer), Sean Couturier (1st) and Travis Konecny (3rd). Both Konecny, who had had back-to-back multi-point games to start the season (3g, 2a), and Provorov had one assist in addition to their respective goals. Matt Niskanen (1st assist of the season and as a Flyer), Claude Giroux (1st assist) and Oskar Lindblom (1st assist) chipped in one helper apiece.
Among multiple near-misses, the Flyers hit the post twice in the middle frame. Giroux was all alone on Cory Schneider (30 saves on 34 shots) and had him beaten but drew iron on a backhand attempt. Later, Michael Raffl heard the dreaded ping with a chance to make it a 2-0 game.
The Flyers were relentless on the puck through most of the final 40 minutes in particular. One could see the cumulative effects of forechecking pressure, backchecking, puck support, clean entries and taking care of the puck (seven charged giveaways to 14 for New Jersey). The Flyers also won 59 percent on the faceoffs. Scott Laughton was 9-for-11 (81.8 pct) while Claude Giroux was 9-for-13 (69.2 pct) and Sean Couturier was 12-for-20 (60 pct).
Any way you slice it, the Flyers were by far the better team on this night.
Provorov's goal broke the scoreless deadlock at 9:52 of the second period. After the first power play unit did everything but score -- including Hayes having an empty net staring at him for a lengthy period of time but being unable to find a shooting lane and eventually firing wide -- the second unit struck. Provorov found the back of the net with a tracer from the top of the left circle.
At the 33-second and 57-second marks of the third period, going to the net paid off for the Flyers. First, on the power play, Giroux won a right circle draw and Hayes crashed the net to beat Schneider. Next, Lindblom kept a loose puck alive after Provorov put it toward the net, and Lindblom got the puck cross-crease to Couturier for a jam-in goal.
Konecny's unassisted marker at 11:46 of the third period put the game totally out of reach. He opportunistically pounced on the puck as a Devil defenseman wiped out carrying the puck out in front of the net. A quick shift and shot later, the Flyers had a four-goal cushion.
The Devils had a final power play opportunity with 3:25 left in the game. Rather than pulling Schneider for a last-gasp comeback starting bid on a 6-on-4, Devils coach John Hynes kept his goalie in the net.
Philly originally had a practice scheduled for Thursday at the Skate Zone in Voorhees. However, the practice has been canceled. At 2 p.m. the team has a flight to Vancouver. The Flyers begin a three-game western Canada road trip on Saturday with a game against the Canucks.
For more about Wednesday night's victory,
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Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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