Travis Konecny was credited with a bizarre go-ahead goal late in the second period as the visiting Philadelphia Flyers skated to a 6-3 win over the New Jersey Devils on Friday at Newark, N.J.
Philadelphia set an NHL record when it sent Cam Talbot to the crease, marking the eighth goaltender it has used this season. Talbot, who was acquired from the Edmonton Oilers on Feb. 15, finished with 30 saves in his debut with the Flyers.
Konecny joined New Jersey native James van Riemsdyk with two-goal performances, and Sean Couturier added his team-leading 26th tally for the Flyers, who improved to 15-3-2 in their last 20 games. Defenseman Ivan Provorov also scored and Jakub Voracek notched three assists to boost his point total to nine (three goals, six assists) in his last four contests.
Defenseman Damon Severson scored his career high-tying ninth goal before setting up tallies by Jesper Bratt and Kevin Rooney for the cellar-dwelling Devils, who have lost four of their last six.
Cory Schneider (18 saves) attempted to poke a loose puck out of the way of a hard-charging Konecny late in the second period. The puck caromed off both Konecny's shin pad and the skate of Rooney before squirting into the net to give Philadelphia a 3-2 lead with 30 seconds remaining in the session.
Couturier's wrist shot from the left circle handcuffed Schneider 27 seconds into the third period and Provorov redirected fellow defenseman Travis Sanheim's shot over six minutes later to give the Flyers a 5-2 advantage. Konecny scored into an empty net with 3:48 remaining to reach the 20-goal plateau for the second time in his three NHL seasons.
Van Riemsdyk opened the scoring at 12:53 of the first period with a one-timer in the slot before converting new acquisition Ryan Hartman's brilliant backhanded feed 83 seconds later for his fourth goal in four games.
New Jersey's Kenny Agostino skated up the left wing and wired a sharp shot that caromed off the pad of Talbot and right to Severson, who made no mistake from the doorstep at 4:25 of the second period. At the 8:49 mark, Bratt forged a tie at 2 after backhanding a rebound home for his eighth goal of the season.
--Field Level Media
Philadelphia | New Jersey | |
James van Riemsdyk 3 | Points | Damon Severson 3 |
James van Riemsdyk 2 | Goals | Damon Severson 1 |
Jakub Voracek 3 | Assists | Damon Severson 2 |
James van Riemsdyk 1 | Power Play Goals | N/A |
N/A | Short Handed Goals | N/A |
Cam Talbot .909 | Save Percentage | Cory Schneider .783 |
Cam Talbot 30 | Saves | Cory Schneider 18 |
Team | Shots | Goals | Power Play | Penalty Kill | Penalty Mins | Face Offs Won |
Philadelphia | 24 | 6 | 1-3 | 1-1 | 6 | 18 |
New Jersey | 33 | 3 | 0-1 | 2-3 | 13 | 36 |