Heading down I-95 with nothing the play for in the standings, the Devils had to look deep inside themselves for motivation as they were set to face the Flyers at Wells Fargo Center.
Other than playing for your job, with general manager Tom Fitzgerald mulling over certain roster decisions, the Devils had the opportunity to spoil the Flyers party and eliminate them from playoff contention.
For starting goaltender Kappo Kahkonen, this could very well be his last game in-between the pipes for New Jersey as he is set to be an unrestricted free agent July 1st. Postgame, Kahkonen addressed the situation.
“You never know, yeah, we have one more game left. As a player you just focus on the next game, you prepare, and then the coaches make the decision who’s starting in goal. We have one game left and let’s just see after that,” Kahkonen told reporters’ post-game in the locker room.
On the ice, Kahkonen had a stellar performance, saving 20 out of 21 shots. Unfortunately for him, the only goal he would allow, the only goal of the game, would come on a Devils power-play where Flyers leading scorer Travis Konecny broke free on breakaway and was able to beat Kahkonen low glove side with 9:10 left in the second period to give the Flyers a 1-0 lead.
To put salt into the wound, the goal was Konecny’s NHL-best sixth short-handed goal of the season.
“We played hard, defended hard,” coach Travis Green said. “They have a lot to play for. They were a desperate hockey team, and I thought we matched a lot of the desperation. Not happy we lost. When you lose a game like that, you’re not happy. We knew we were going to face a desperate team and came up a little short.”
The Devils made a push to tie the game up in the third period but mounted very little in attack to even threaten Samuel Ersson’s goal, with the shots ending up being 9-4 in favor of New Jersey the final 20 minutes.
Talking about the team’s offensive struggles tonight, defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler said, “I think we just didn’t get the puck through enough. They do a good job blocking shots. There was always somebody in the lane. They did it pretty good and I think we just got to find a way to get the pucks to the net.”
This game would see just one goal, coming shorthanded and had 41 total shots on net. Captain Nico Hischier summarized this game perfectly.
“It was a tight game, an important game for them, and not a lot of risk on both sides. It wasn’t a bad game, we just didn’t capitalize on our chances, and they scored one goal, so it was a really tight game.”
With the win, the Flyers keep their slim playoff hopes alive as they are set to host a “win or go home” against the Washington Capitals Tuesday night. For New Jersey, they’ll head back home up I-95 and will host the New York Islanders Monday night in their season finale at the Prudential Center.
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