Game 14 Recap – Rivalry Renewed as Devils Beat Flyers in Second Meeting of the Season

It was an old school rivalry that was anything but ordinary. The New Jersey Devils hosted the Philadelphia Flyers in their second meeting of the year on home ice, and they didn’t disappoint. Although the Devils were outplayed in the first period, they came back to play some serious Devil-style hockey and scored 4 unanswered goals to win with a commanding 5-3 lead. The team now leads the Eastern Conference with 21 points.

The game started with the Devils scoring a goal within the first 40 seconds of the game with a beautiful shot from Travis Zajac. Unfortunately, the lead was short lived and the team soon found themselves with a 3-1 deficit as the result of goals from Simmonds, Knuble and Read.

Not to be deterred, the Devils started the second period with an aggressive offensive strategy that included long passes from Brodeur to keep the Flyers out of our defensive zone. The efforts paid off with Ponikarovsky’s first goal in his first game back as a Devil while netting yet another assist for Ilya Kovalchuk and Martin Brodeur. A goal from Patrik Elias tied the game and the teams left the ice with a 3-3 tie.

The Devils continued the momentum into the third period with some really smart plays and crisp passing, resulting in a beautiful tip in front of the net, not to mention a game winning goal, from David Clarkson. The icing on the cake? An empty netter from Bernier, of course.

Stars of the game

1. Ilya Kovalchuk
2. David Clarkson
3. Patrik Elias