Another head-turning win for upstart Flyers, who knock off Devils in OT originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
The Flyers’ sample size of looking like a legitimate team kept on growing Tuesday night.
John Tortorella’s club picked up another galvanizing type of win with a 3-2 OT decision over the Devils at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.
Owen Tippett intercepted a Jack Hughes pass in overtime and buried a shot for the winner.
Ryan Poehling scored the Flyers‘ first two goals. Samuel Ersson was excellent again in net.
The Flyers (18-10-3) extended their point streak to nine games (7-0-2). They’re also 8-1-2 in their last 11 games and 6-3 after regulation this season.
Last season, they were 5-13 after regulation.
The Flyers and Devils (16-12-2) have split their first two meetings, with both games going to OT. It sure looks like this could be a fun regular-season series. The next matchup will be outdoors at MetLife Stadium in February before New Jersey comes back to Philadelphia for the Flyers’ second-to-last game of the regular season.
• There’s no denying what the Flyers have done. Just two games away from the holiday break and they’re in second place of a jam-packed Metropolitan Division.
They’ve put together a pretty bona-fide stretch.
Since losing to the previously-winless Sharks, the Flyers have gone 13-3-2 and have surrendered only 2.22 goals per game. Their 28 points are the most in the NHL over that span (Nov. 10 to now), while seven of those wins have been decided by one goal.
They’re winning in various ways and they already have four victories over top-10 clubs on their résumé.
We’ll see where it all goes in this rebuilding season, but the Flyers could be giving general manager Danny Briere a lot to think about for the NHL trade deadline on March 8.
• Ersson is on one heck of a run.
He has made four straight starts and has won three of them. The only loss came in overtime a week ago on the road to the Predators.
The 24-year-old is 8-1-1 with a 1.85 goals-against average and .929 save percentage over his last 10 starts.
Against the Devils, Ersson converted 24 saves on 26 shots. He notched three of the saves in overtime.
One of the goals he allowed came on a New Jersey power play in the second period when Jesper Bratt gave the Devils a 2-1 lead.
After backing up last Saturday and practicing Monday, Carter Hart was unavailable against New Jersey. The 25-year-old has been battling an undisclosed illness, which very much sounds like a…