Philly Sports Jabronis
The Flyers were haunted by another player from their past during their 2014-15 home-opener Thursday night. After battling back from a 3-0 deficit, Philadelphia climbed all the way back to tie the game late in the second period when Wayne Simmonds tallied two scores within one minute’s time. But former Flyer Dainius Zubrus scored the go-ahead score at 7:13 in the third before a late empty-netter sealed the win for New Jersey, sans Martin Brodeur.
Official Game Recap From Philadelphia Flyers
* Devils struck first on a goal from Ryder who went top shelf on a screened Steve Mason… The Flyers have given up the game’s first goal in both regular season games so far and did so in five of eight preseason games.
* The Flyers and Devils combined for 10 goals in tonight’s game, which is two goals shy of what they combined for in the entire four-game series last season.
* Wayne Simmonds recorded his eighth career game of three points or more, posting two goals and an assist – It was his 14th career multi-goal game.
* Claude Giroux posted a goal and an assist while recording a team-high seven shots on goal… Giroux recorded seven shots on two occasions last season, with the most recent coming on April 10 vs. Tampa Bay.
* The Flyers recorded 39 shots on goal, which is the most they’ve had in a game against the Devils since they posted 41 on February 4, 2012, which coincidentally was also a 6-4 home loss… It’s only the 10th time they’ve ever been credited with 39 or more shots against the Devils, and only the fifth time they’ve done so in a regulation game… The Flyers are 2-4-3-1 (W-L-T-SOL) when recording 39 or more shots against New Jersey.
* Braydon Coburn missed his first game since Mar. 30, 2013 with a lower-body injury. Nick Schultz filled in for Coburn and appeared in 14:46 of ice-time in his Flyers debut.
* The Flyers scored three goals within a 4:16 span in the second period to tie the game back up at 3-3, including two fromWayne Simmonds, one of which came with 0.4 seconds left in the second period.
* The Flyers had four players record multiple points in tonight’s game.
* Five different Devils recorded multiple points, including Jaromir Jagr who had two assists and surpassed Steve Yzerman for sixth all-time in NHL history with 1,757 points.
———————
POSTGAME: RECAP
———————
PHILADELPHIA — New Jersey Devils coach Peter DeBoer got a glimpse of what could be an electrifying season in a 6-4 victory against the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday at Wells Fargo Center.
The need for more offense was something DeBoer and general manager Lou Lamoriello discussed at the conclusion of the 2013-14 season, when the Devils ranked 27th in the NHL at 2.40 goals per game. In their season opener Thursday, the Devils built an early lead only to watch the Flyers rally twice to tie the game before Dainius Zubrus scored the game-winner at 7:13 of the third period, snapping a 4-4 tie.
Mike Cammalleri, signed by the Devils as a free agent this summer to provide some offensive spark, scored twice, including an empty-net goal with one minute remaining.
The Devils’ offensive barrage also included goals by Michael Ryder, Adam Henrique, Patrik Elias and Zubrus. Ryder also had two assists.
Claude Giroux and Vincent Lecavalier each scored for the Flyers, who got two goals from Wayne Simmonds in the final minute of the second period.
Devils goaltender Cory Schneider made 35 saves, and Flyers goalie Steve Mason stopped 20 shots.
Elias gave the Devils a 4-3 lead 4:16 into the third when he collected a pass from Marek Zidlicky and easily tapped home a shot at the left post. The goal was the 36th for Elias in 83 career games against the Flyers.
The Flyers answered 15 seconds later when Lecavalier fired a wrist shot past Schneider to tie the game for the second time. The tie didn’t last long, though. Zubrus gave the Devils a 5-4 lead at 7:13 off a long wrist shot that seemed to handcuff Mason.
The Flyers rallied from a 3-0 deficit in the second with three goals over the final 4:16 of the period.
Giroux pulled the Flyers within 3-1 with a power-play goal off a snap shot at 15:44 before Simmonds cut the deficit to one with an even-strength goal off a rip from the left hash at 19:03. Simmonds held on to the puck and forced New Jersey defenseman Jon Merrill to the ice before skating around him and unleashing past Schneider.
Simmonds then scored his second of the game 56 seconds later when he redirected a pass from Lecavalier from in the slot with less than a second to play in the period. The Flyers benefitted not only with the man advantage, but dominated in the faceoff circle against the Devils, leading to greater puck possession and opportunities.
Henrique gave the visitors a 2-0 lead 2:10 into the second when his shot from the right circle deflected off the stick of Flyers defenseman Luke Schenn and past Mason. Cammalleri made it 3-0 when he tipped the puck past Mason from the slot off a turnaround wrist shot by Jagr from along the right wing half boards at 5:33.
The assist moved Jagr past Steve Yzerman into sixth on the NHL all-time points list with 1,756.
The Devils opened a 1-0 lead 12:05 into the first when Ryder took a back pass from Ryane Clowe above the right circle and released a wrist shot that beat Mason to the long side. The Flyers goalie could not locate the puck because Lecavalier and Henrique were screening him.
