A slump and some injuries are creating a situation where the New Jersey Devils are closer to a wild-card spot than to the lead in the Metropolitan Division.
The Devils hope to avoid playing a second straight game without captain Nico Hischier and attempt to start rolling again Wednesday night when they host the Philadelphia Flyers in Newark, N.J.
The Devils are playing their third game since losing starting goaltender Jacob Markstrom to a sprained MCL suffered during last Wednesday’s 5-1 win over the Boston Bruins.
Hischier, meanwhile, was held out of Monday’s 4-2 loss in Philadelphia after being cross-checked by Montreal’s Nick Suzuki in Saturday’s 4-3 overtime win. Leading the Devils with 24 goals, Hischier is day-to-day and since the Devils did not practice Tuesday, his status will be unknown until Wednesday.
The Devils are 4-7-3 in their past 14 games. They once held a three-point lead on the Washington Capitals atop the Metropolitan Division, but since a 4-2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes they have tumbled to third and could face a double-digit deficit to the Capitals, who have two games in hand.
Without Hischier, the Devils were unable to win a third straight after scoring nine goals in wins over the Boston Bruins and Montreal. The Devils allowed the first three goals Monday before Dougie Hamilton and Timo Meier scored, but they were 0-for-3 on the power play and held to two goals or fewer for the ninth time since Dec. 27.
“Thought our details weren’t good,” New Jersey’s Jesper Bratt said after his team saw 31 shots get denied. “We knew going into this game what kind of game it would be. It’s a hard-fought game for space out there. Playing against Philly in the beginning of the game, we didn’t embrace that. We wanted to be too cute with the puck and we didn’t really create any momentum, and we were feeding their offense a lot and we were spending a lot of time in our (defensive) zone.”
Philadelphia is seeking its third win over the Devils this season and is 6-2-1 in its past nine games since dropping four straight Jan. 2-9.
The Flyers earned a point in six straight (5-0-1) before a rough back-to-back set against the New York Rangers and New York Islanders that saw them get outscored by a combined 9-2 margin despite getting a combined 64 shots on goal.
On Monday, the Flyers scored at least four for the fourth time since Jan. 9. Bobby Brink had a power-play goal and Joel Farabee scored 28 seconds later before Garnet Hathaway scored 2:49 into the second.
“It’s never easy when you play the same team twice in a week,” Farabee said. “They’re a little banged up, and their goalie (is hurt). We kind of knew we had to take advantage.”
Scott Laughton also scored and set up Farabee’s goal after missing the previous three games due to a death in his family.
The Flyers continued to get solid play in net from Samuel Ersson, who made 31 saves. Even with allowing five goals last week to the Rangers, Ersson is 8-2-0 with a 1.96 goals-against average and a .925 save percentage in his past 10 games.
Philadelphia played Monday’s game without captain Sean Couturier due to an illness and the captain could be out again Wednesday after missing his third game this season.
–Field Level Media
