Here are some observations from the game:
• New Jersey finished its five-game road trip with a 2-3-0 mark, winning the opening two while dropping the last three straight.
• The setback was the first time the Devils lost in regulation after scoring the game’s first goal. They’re now 9-1-1 when scoring first.
• Meier really earned his power-play goal in the first period. He was set up at the side of the left post when he had a couple whacks at a loose puck. He didn’t convert. The puck would work its way back around to Jesper Bratt above the far circle. Bratt’s shot sailed over the net and off the glass. Meier, still at the side of the net, grabbed the puck off the glass, put it down to his stick and tucked it inside the near post for the goal.
• Nico Hischier picked up his fifth goal of the season late in the second period. But it was Luke Hughes that really made the play.
Hughes had puck by the blue line. He skated down the left side and juked Flyers forward Owen Tippett out of his skates, swerving around him. Hughes then began to cut to the net before making a perfect pass through the slot to Hischier, who finished off the play for his first of the game.
• The Devils pulled Jake Allen with seven minutes left in regulation and trailing 5-3. It paid off as Simon Nemec’s blast from the midpoint was tipped by Hischier on its way into the net.
• The Devils switched up their defensive pairings halfway through the game. They united Simon Nemec with Luke Hughes. The groups look like:
Hughes – Nemec
Siegenthaler – Hamilton
Dillon – Cholowski