By the end of the night, New Jersey Devils goaltender Akira Schmid was exhausted.
After all, the young netminder had to make 31 saves and fought through the Philadelphia Flyers late game flurry to preserve the win to get two solid points in regulation. Devils forwards Fabian Zetterlund and Dawson Mercer each scored for New Jersey with Jack Hughes getting the eventual game winning goal past Flyers goalie Carter Hart.
The Devils needed to bounce back after giving up the lead and point after losing to the Nashville Predators in overtime on Thursday night. The Flyers gave the Devils trouble at times. Nevertheless, New Jersey wins their 11th straight on the road and have a five game point streak.
Musings & Thoughts
1. Despite their recent record, Flyers are a tough team to beat. A typical John Tortorella coached team will be aggressive and fight for every inch on the ice. I thought the Flyers played well enough to win especially outshooting the Devils 33-18.
2. Devils got great goaltending from Akira Schmid and he raised his record to 5-0-0 on the season after going 0-4-0 last season. Schmid has a 1.42 GAA and sporting a .949 save percentage. He has been stellar in his role since being called up from Utica when Mackenzie Blackwood went down with injury against Edmonton on their Western Canadian road trip in early November. The Devils have a happy goalie problem once Blackwood is ready to come back.
3. Nice to see Fabian Zetterlund, Dawson Mercer and Jack Hughes score goals in the high danger area by getting close to the goalie crease. The Devils are lethal when they can get the puck to the net up close.
4. John Tortorella’s press conference lasted only 56 seconds according to Ryan Novozinsky of NJ.com. How can you blame him?