In Newark, the New Jersey Devils needed a big third period to match the same from the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday night.
Connor Carrick scored his first goal of the season for the New Jersey Devils
The Devils took a 3-0 lead in the game on goals from Nico Hischier (power-play), Pavel Zacha (power-play) and Miles Wood in the first and second periods.
“It feels much better to come in the locker room and celebrate a win, and we got to learn from that,” Hischier said. “The game wasn’t easy, but we found a way to bounce back every time. In the end, all the matters is we broke that streak and finally got a win.”
The Flyers rallied off goals from Oskar Lindblom, Philippe Myers and Claude Giroux to make the latter stages of the third period very interesting.
“Our guys have never quit, and they didn’t quit tonight,” Philadelphia head coach Alain Vigneault said. “We were down by three and battled back hard in the third. We keep pushing and we keep trying, and that’s what you want from your players.”
In the end, Mackenzie Blackwood, who made 26 saves, kept the Flyers at arms length in a 6-4 Devils win.
“If we dig in on our special teams, that can help us win games,” Hischier said. “Those four minutes … we did an excellent job, we did exactly what we wanted. We were really detailed, didn’t give them much, and that brings the momentum back to us.”
The Flyers now trail the Boston Bruins by 11 points.
The Devils broke a 10-game skid with the win.
“We all know that if you’re going to be a defenseman, you have to defend first, and [Carrick’s] defended well,” New Jersey head coach Lindy Ruff said. “To get involved in the offense and score that goal … it’s like a huge bonus.”
Sean Couturier rallied the Flyers back again, to tie the game, 4-4.
“We need to be better,” said. “We need to be more ready from the start of the game and be tougher to play for a whole game. We can be on and off. When we’re on, we’re one of the best teams, but we got to be more consistent.”
Connor Carrick struck for his first goal of the season to give the Devils a 4-3 lead.
Yegor Sharangovich restored the Devils lead at 5-4.
“The trait I like about our rookies is their will to never quit; it’s been there the whole year,” Ruff said. “I like the desire to make a difference inside the game. There’s been some ups and downs, but that desire to make a difference, to be a player they believe can help this team win on a regular basis.”
Mikhail Maltsev popped home an empty-net goal to make the 6-4 final.
Brian Elliott made 21 saves in the loss.
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