Yahoo Sports Devils Come Out With Physical & Emotional Response, Earn 5-0 Victory Over Flyers
TNT analyst Darren Pang stood ice level between the benches of Prudential Center on Wednesday night, wanting to see emotion from the New Jersey Devils.
"If there is not emotion and physicality in a back-to-back set, then I will be disappointed," he told The Hockey News on Tuesday afternoon.
The Devils were hosting the Philadelphia Flyers, the team that handed them a 4-2 loss on Monday night at Wells Fargo Center.
Within the first five minutes of Monday's game it was apparent that Timo Meier and Jonas Siegenthaler were physically engaged as a scrum broke out after goaltender Jake Allen made a save.
It would set the stage for a physical matchup between one team, desperate to climb into a wild card spot, and another looking to get out of a slump that has haunted them since the start of the 2025 calendar year.
As the puck dropped for the second period, the Devils came alive, scoring four goals and amassing 14 penalty minutes.
Less than a minute into the middle frame, Ondrej Palat gave the Devils a 1-0 lead on the man advantage. It was his first power-play goal of 2024-25. With his primary assist, Jack Hughes reached the 40-assist mark.
Seconds later, Devils defenseman Brenden Dillon set the physical tone with an open-ice hit on Owen Tippett, who immediately went down the tunnel and did not return to the game.
That was when the emotions really came up," head coach Sheldon Keefe said of the hit. "He led the way in that regard. A big moment in the game. It looks like it is as clean as it gets. The fans got into it. Players got into it, and we didn't look back from there."
Over the next 18 minutes, Kurtis MacDermid, Johnathan Kovacevic, and Stefan Noesen would be sent to the penalty box for roughing penalties. While they emphasized physicality, Luke Hughes, Nathan Bastian, and Dawson Mercer found the back of the net, giving the Devils a 4-0 lead. New Jersey outshot Philadelphia 13-6 in the second period.
The Devils added one more goal in the third period, with Jack Hughes' 20th goal of the season for a 5-0 victory over their Metropolitan Division rival.
"I thought coming into today we would find out about our team and the individuals, how we respond, how we handle this," Keefe said. "They were terrific tonight. It shows they care and they're competitors. The key for us is to keep building our game. Big step, got the points that we needed tonight."
For Darren Pang, did he get that emotional response he was looking for in Newark?
"Absolutely."
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