Philadelphia Flyers complete much-needed series sweep in New Jersey
Entering their two game set in New Jersey this week, the Philadelphia Flyers desperately needed to get back on track after a nightmarish weekend in Boston. Well, that is exactly what they did, completing the two game sweep over the New Jersey Devils on Thursday night with a 3-1 victory. While it was ugly at times, the Orange and Black got the result they were after, and that is what matters most in the end.
Coming off a big 5-3 win in the opener (which was arguably their best performance of the season, spearheaded by James van Riemsdyk and his two goal effort), the Orange and Black looked really bad at times on Thursday. They quickly fell behind following a rather questionable goal from Damon Severson (at second glance it appears this shot went off Erik Gustafsson‘s stick), and looked lost for much of the first two periods of this contest.
Still, they were able to tie the game not long after falling behind, on a goal by possibly the most unlikely player to score, Nate Prosser.
Prosser was making his Philadelphia Flyers debut, and the 34 year old veteran had not appeared in an NHL game since way back in April of 2018. So yeah, this was certainly a long time coming for the former Minnesota Wild defensemen.
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The score remained knotted at 1-1 for awhile in this game. Through the first two periods to be in fact, and the Philadelphia Flyers found themselves essentially being dominated, as they were out-shot 24-8 by the Devils through those first two periods.
The Philadelphia Flyers completed the series sweep over the New Jersey Devils.
Luckily the switch seemed to have been flipped for the Flyers in the third period, as they were the stronger team late in this game, and they were rewarded. Michael Raffl got his second goal of the season, pouncing on a rebound from a Connor Bunnaman shot attempt that rang off the pipe early in the third. Later on, the captain Claude Giroux got his first of the year on a beautiful redirection off a slap pass from Erik Gustafsson.
This was all the cushion the Flyers needed, as Carter Hart – who was making his first start since an abysmal game last Saturday against the Boston Bruins where he took the 6-1 defeat – was the only reason the Orange and Black were able to stay in this game. He was phenomenal, making 33 saves in the win.
The two game sweep moved the Flyers to 5-2-1 through the first 8 games of the season; positioning them in third in the East Division with 11 points.
What is next for the Philadelphia Flyers?
Next up for the Orange and Black is a two game set in Philadelphia with the New York Islanders that begins Saturday night at 7pm. You can bet there will be some revenge on the mind of the Flyer, as it was those same pesky Islanders who bounced them from the postseason last year.
The Islanders have gotten off to a bit of a slow start, as they currently sit in seventh in the East Division with a 3-4-0 record. They held a 3-0 lead over the Capitals on Thursday, but ended up falling apart, giving up six straight goals in a 6-3 loss.
Next. Philadelphia Flyers: James van Riemsdyk is silencing his critics. dark
The big thing is that Philadelphia got back on track in this two game set, even if it was ugly at times. You could argue they have not played anywhere near a complete game, and still find themselves off to a good start in the standings. This is certainly something to be optimistic about as the season continues to progress. Now it is time to shift the focus to the Islanders, and see if this two game winning streak can turn into three.