the New Jersey Devils had little trouble dispatching the Philadelphia Flyers, 3-0, at the Prudential Center on Wednesday night. Shut out for the fourth time this season, the Flyers (8-12-4 overall) are now winless in 10 games (0-8-2).
It was a listless, meek performance for Philadelphia.
The Flyers were subpar in all three zones of the ice, severely lacking in five-man-unit cohesion: The team generated very little forechecking pressure in the attack zone. They struggled to navigate the neutral zone. They lost most of the 50-50 battles. The defense was erratic, chasing the puck at times with large seams in the passing lanes. It was improved relative to yielding 50 shots the previous game and a combined 14 goals in the previous two games, but that's not saying much. Breakouts were rarely clean. Players often did not have their feet moving.
After a scoreless first period, Jesper Bratt (7th goal of the season) gave the Devils a 1-0 lead at 5:30 of the second period. Dawson Mercer (7th) added a power play goal at 11:35. Michael McLeod tacked on an empty net goal in the final 30 seconds of the game.
Carter Hart did his best to keep the Flyers in the game. He didn't quite have his A game going but battled for saves and came up with 24 saves on 26 shots.
Mackenzie Blackwood did not have to be spectacular. He was not tested often and turned back 25 mostly routine shots. The Flyers generated only two high-danger chances all night.
The Flyers went 0-for-2 on the power play. They were 2-for-3 on the penalty kill.,
Derick Brassard returned to the Flyers' lineup. He had missed six games with a hip issue.
For more on Wednesday's game, see the
Postgame 5 on the Flyers' official website.
Thursday is a travel day for the Flyers. On Friday, they'll visit the Vegas Golden Knights. The next night, they will be in Glendale to play the Arizona Coyotes.
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Phantoms Postponement
The Lehigh Valley Phantoms, who are winless in their last eight games but who have scarcely played the last couple weeks due to COVID-19 outbreaks among the Hershey Bears and other scheduled opponents, were informed yesterday of another postponement. Friday's scheduled game against the Hartford Wolf Pack has been postponed until Feb 5 (5 p.m. ET) due to multiple Hartford players being placed into Covid protocol.
The Phantoms (3-11-5) are slated to host the Cleveland Monsters on Saturday at the PPL Center in Allentown (7:05 p.m. ET). Sunday afternoon's scheduled home game against Hartford is still officially on the docket, at least as of now.
Phantoms defenseman Cam York, the team's only player thus far who has been in COVID protocol, has been cleared to play. Wade Allison (high ankle sprain in September) looks likely to play for the first time this season the next time the Phantoms take the ice.
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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