Pucks and Pitchforks
Fansided

New Jersey Devils Lose Another Tough Game Against Philadelphia Flyers

By Vincent Parise

PHILADELPHIA, PA - OCTOBER 20: Taylor Hall #9 of the New Jersey Devils skates with the puck while being pursued by Ivan Provorov #9 of the Philadelphia Flyers on October 20, 2018 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Len Redkoles/NHLI via Getty Images)
PHILADELPHIA, PA - OCTOBER 20: Taylor Hall #9 of the New Jersey Devils skates with the puck while being pursued by Ivan Provorov #9 of the Philadelphia Flyers on October 20, 2018 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Len Redkoles/NHLI via Getty Images) /
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The New Jersey Devils crossed the Betsy Ross Bridge for the first time this season to play their rival, the Philadelphia Flyers. The team looked off at times, with some key players missing.

Philadelphia hosted New Jersey, and won the game 5-2. That score isn’t really indicative of how close the game was in the end. It appeared like the Devils played a tough game, but yet another game where they may have been a bit outplayed, that they were in until the very end. It also took two very good plays from an elite player, Jakub Voracek.

The Flyers had the puck for a majority of the night, and there are a few things that fed into that. A big reason is bad faceoff play and taking way too many penalties.

Travis Zajac being out hurts the faceoff numbers. Some people do not believe that faceoff numbers are not that important, and that is just simply not true. The Devils only won 26.7 percent of their face offs, meaning Philly won 73.3 percent. That means the Devils began roughly 7 out of 10 plays without the puck, and that is a recipe for losing. In fact, the Flyers tied the game at one when Travis Konecny scored a goal after a faceoff win by Jordan Weal.

The special teams for New Jersey were once again very good. They gave they Devils a chance to win the game. The power play scored twice (Severson, Boyle) on three attempts. The penalty kill yielded one power play goal to the Flyers, but on five attempts. They have to take less penalties if they want to get back in the win column.

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The Devils lost Steven Santini to injury in the first period, and Sami Vatanen stepped up and played 29:01 TOI in the game, a career high. He played very well in this game and will be relied upon a lot this season. The lack of Zajac was clear in this game, as he is so good at playing a 200 foot game, and makes other players around him have an easier time.

There were points to be taken, and the Devils and Flyers were tied in shots 21-21, despite the Flyers controlling most of the game. The Devils efforts defensively were there. In their next game, it is vital that they come out with more fire and are ready to go.

The Devils next play on Thursday, October 25th, after a few days to rest and practice, when the Nashville Predators make the trip to Newark.

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