Devils hold off Flyers in a thrilling overtime win, 4-3

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Luke Hughes scored just 28 seconds into overtime, with Alexander Holtz, Jack Hughes, and Tyler Toffoli scoring in regulation, propelling the New Jersey Devils to a thrilling 4-3 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday night.

The Devils pounced on a quick rebound in OT after surrendering a 3-1 lead in the final five minutes of regulation.

Sean Walker gave the Flyers hope, scoring his fourth goal with five minutes left to cut it to 3-2. Tyson Foerster then tied it with 50.9 seconds remaining, notching their second power-play goal of the game after coming into the contest with only seven on the season.

The Flyers extended their dismal record to 0-10-1 when the opposing team scores first.

Under second-year coach John Tortorella, the Flyers have defied expectations, amassing 11 wins in 23 games and ranking fourth in the Metropolitan Division. A big part of their success has been their 11-1-0 record when scoring first, while the league winning percentage for teams that score first is around 70% overall this season.

Conversely, the Devils have a decent 7-8-1 record when trailing 1-0, showing a resiliency in unfavorable situations.

Allowing the first goal has been a significant issue for the Flyers this season, compounded by their inefficient power play which has only worsened their comeback attempts. The Flyers entered the game with just seven power-play goals on 71 attempts, struggling to find a solution for this problem.

After Hughes scored to give the Devils a 2-0 lead, the Flyers managed to net a power-play goal, with Morgan Frost scoring their eighth power-play goal of the season in the second period.

Hughes, who scored with 4:48 left in the first, witnessed his brother Luke being hit from behind by Flyers forward Garnet Hathaway, resulting in Luke sustaining an injury but returning to the game later. Hathaway, however, received a game misconduct for the hit.

Hughes didn’t seem to be affected by his arm injury when he scored the game-winning goal in overtime.

Carter Hart turned away 31 shots for the Flyers, while Toffoli beat Hart with a power-play goal early in the third period to extend the Devils’ lead to 3-1.

Holtz opened the scoring for the Devils, netting his seventh goal of the season just 3:10 into the game.

UP NEXT

Devils: Host the San Jose Sharks on Friday night.

Flyers: Play Saturday night at Pittsburgh.