Jack Hughes scored with 1:37 remaining in overtime to give the New Jersey Devils a 3-2 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers at Prudential Center on Thursday. Hughes converted a wrist shot off a pass from Jesper Bratt at 3:23 of the extra frame to complete New Jersey's comeback.
Philadelphia opened the scoring in the first period at the 11:12 mark. Rasmus Ristolainen scored his first goal of the season with a tip-in, assisted by Travis Sanheim and Travis Konecny. New Jersey tied the game late in the second period when Dougie Hamilton gathered the puck and scored unassisted on a snap shot at 17:58.
The Flyers moved back ahead early in the third period. Sanheim hammered a slap shot past New Jersey goaltender Jake Allen at 5:33, assisted by Sean Couturier. The Devils answered at 9:44 of the third period when Luke Hughes beat Philadelphia goaltender Joseph Woll with a snap shot off a feed from Luke Evangelista, sending the game to overtime tied 2-2.
Woll kept Philadelphia in contention by making 41 saves on 44 shots in the overtime loss. Allen earned the win for the Devils after stopping 23 of 25 shots. Both teams struggled on the man advantage, as New Jersey went 0 for 4 on the power play while the Flyers finished 0 for 1.
The Devils won their regular-season opener to improve to 1-0-0. Philadelphia dropped to 0-1-1 and extended its winless start to two games despite blocking 32 shots on the evening.
Both teams face the Colorado Avalanche next. The Flyers host Colorado on Monday, October 19, while the Devils host the Avalanche on Tuesday, October 20.
