Seeler high hit?

The Flyers had a comfortable 3-0 lead when Nick Seeler lowered the boom on an unsuspecting Nathan Bastian in the second period. The shoulder looked to nail Bastian in the head and the Devils forward, who was already wearing a face shield to start the game, headed to the locker room. Officials converged during a television timeout and Seeler was given a two-minute penalty as was New Jersey’s Dougie Hamilton who came to Bastian’s defence. Although nothing was given to Seeler during the game, remember the Islanders’ Maxim Tsyplakov was also seemingly free of punishment before a three-game suspension shortly thereafter.

Defense by committee

With Egor Zamula out, the Flyers threw the defensive pairs into a blender of sorts to start the game. Cam York found himself with Rasmus Ristolainen, Jamie Drysdale and Travis Sanheim were matched up, and Nick Seeler saw Erik Johnson on the blueline with him. Ristolainen roughed up Ondrej Palat early in the game and was rewarded with a four-minute, double-minor (blood drawing) penalty. It wasn’t the greatest way to start as New Jersey has the second best power play in the league. The first minor featured two scoring chances for the Flyers as they efficiently kept things to the perimeter. It also saw a missed call on the Flyers as Noah Cates used a broken stick to clear the puck.

Overall the blueline held firm and delivered a good game overall, making smart plays, always moving with the puck and rarely lollygagging with it in the defensive zone. Throw in a two-point night by Ristolainen and it was a strong effort on the whole.

Keep it simple, stupid

Perhaps it was a forerunner of what was to happen in the first period but the Flyers gave the puck away a lot of times just inside both bluelines. Matvei Michkov was guilty early on as was Morgan Frost but never got burned. Sadly, the same east-west passing was noticed by the Devils as they intercepted a handful of passes that were at best low-percentage.

Whether it was a television timeout or the fact they scored two quickies, the Flyers found themselves making the simple, short passes to get out of danger and work like a unit. Their style of play was almost identical to the gameplan they had in their previous meeting in New Jersey: a tight checking affair although both sides combined for 17 shots in the first period.

Dreaded 3-0 lead

The Flyers looked to be in a bit of a fog after Garnet Hathaway made it 3-0. The Seeler hit probably didn’t help in giving New Jersey something to play for. But when Ersson was needed, he came up big. A blocker save on Jesper Bratt was only bested by a pad save he delivered seconds later. Philadelphia was nearly being doubled in the game’s shot total (19-11) halfway through the game despite being relatively even in the stat a few minutes prior.

A terribly cute and moronic backhand pass by the Flyers in the Devils’ zone ended up being a three-on-one going the other way. Again Ersson stood tall. Fortunately Philadelphia got the smelling salts and had an extended, chances-galore shift in the second, with Allen standing on his head at times.

Ersson got a bad bounce when a Hamilton shot rang off the post and into the crease. Travis Sanheim, trying to clear, bounced the puck off Ersson and the Devils had an all-important goal late in the second.