PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Bobby Brink, Joel Farabee and Garnet Hathaway scored to help the Philadelphia Flyers build a three-goal lead and they held on to beat the New Jersey Devils 4-2 on Monday night.
Scott Laughton had a goal and an assist to help the Flyers snap a two-game losing streak and win the opener of a home-and-home set. Travis Konecny and Rasmus Ristolainen each had two assists, and Samuel Ersson stopped 31 shots in Philadelphia's fourth straight home win.
Dougie Hamilton and Timo Meier scored for New Jersey, which has lost both meetings with Philadelphia this season. The teams meet again in New Jersey on Wednesday.
Brink had a power-play goal with 8:56 left in the first, and Farabee made it 2-0 just 28 seconds later. Hathaway made it a three-goal lead at 2:49 of the second.
Hamilton got the Devils on the scoreboard with 1:13 left in the middle period, and Meier pulled New Jersey within a goal with 1:22 left in the third by scoring on a slap shot during a 6-on-5 situation.
However, Laughton's empty-netter with 14.7 seconds left clinched the Flyers' win.
The Devils played without captain Nico Hischier, who was sidelined with a lower body injury sustained in Saturday’s 4-3 overtime win over Montreal.
Takeaways
Devils: New Jersey showed it can fight back after sinking into a three-goal deficit, but the Devils likely will need a faster start on home ice in Wednesday’s rematch.
Flyers: Ersson provided a solid performance in goal. With more outings like that in net and the offense scoring as it did, the Flyers could make a playoff push.
Key moment
Eagles rookie defensive back Cooper DeJean rode the Zamboni in between the second and third periods one day after helping Philadelphia clinch a spot in the Super Bowl. Excited Philadelphia sports fans belted out several “E-A-G-L-E-S! EAGLES” chants during the game.
Key stat
Flyers coach John Tortorella coached his 1,598th game, tying Ken Hitchcock for seventh place in NHL history.
Up Next
Devils host Flyers on Wednesday night.
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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
The Associated Press
