– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
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NEWARK, NEW JERSEY — The second period of tonight’s game in Newark played out like a hockey fan’s dream … if those dreams involve the New Jersey Devils and lighting the lamp and throwing their weight around against one of their hated rivals.
Ondrej Palat scored on the power play at the start of the second period, one of four goals scored by the Devils in the frame as New Jersey exacted some revenge with their 5-0 win over the Philadelphia Flyers inside the Prudential Center on Wednesday evening.
Luke Hughes, Nathan Bastian and Dawson Mercer also scored for the Devils in the second, a frame that saw 13 penalties between both teams as emotions boiled over between the rivals in the form of numerous post-whistle scrums along the boards — touched off after an open-ice hit by Devils defenseman Brenden Dillon on Flyers left wing Owen Tippett just seconds after Palat’s power-play opener.
“The emotion and the energy that we brought to the ice today is contagious,” said Devils winger Timo Meier. “When guys play physical, when guys work, it’s contagious.”
The Flyers had defeated the Devils twice in the last 12 days, a 3-1 victory nine days ago in Newark and a 4-2 victory on Monday in Philadelphia, and they took the game to New Jersey in the first period where they held a 10-6 shot advantage. Jake Allen stood tall in goal for New Jersey, stopping all of those shots on his way to a 24-save shutout, his 22nd clean sheet of his career.
The heightened emotions, as well as the Flyers having their number so far this season, only served to up the Devils’ performance soon after the goal and hit. On a 2-on-1 with alongside his brother, Jack, Luke Hughes scored on a wrist shot from the right wing at 6:27 to double New Jersey’s lead. Bastian then was the first to a loose puck in the crease during a goal-line scrum to score New Jersey’s second power-play goal of the game at 12:41, and Mercer completed the scoring barrage in the second with his 13th of the season just 62 seconds after Bastian’s goal to open that four-goal advantage.
“The emotions rise and our guys were right there with it. That’s what we need. We need that level of emotion and intensity,” Devils coach Sheldon Keefe said. “It’s hard to bring that every single night like that over 82 [games], but there’s certain ones that really call for it and tonight was absolutely one of them, and I thought our guys met the moment.”
Jack Hughes then scored his 20th of the season at 1:58 in the third, completing a beautiful give-and-go with Jesper Bratt on a 2-on-1 to round out the scoring.
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