Flyers' Scott Laughton seals win over Devils, snaps two-game skid

Jackie Spiegel, The Philadelphia Inquirer on Jan 27, 2025

Published in Hockey

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

PHILADELPHIA — Speaking to reporters after the Flyers’ optional morning skate, Scott Laughton said the Flyers “need to get rolling here.”

Well, let the good times roll.

The Flyers had a wire-to-wire 4-2 win against the New Jersey Devils. It ended a two-game losing streak and the Flyers now have six wins in their past nine games.

After killing off a four-minute high-sticking minor on Rasmus Ristolainen, where the Flyers and Devils each had two, the Flyers scored a power-play goal. Bobby Brink found the back of the net before Lou Nolan finished announcing the tripping penalty to Curtis Lazar.

Off an offensive-zone faceoff, Ristolainen made a no-look pass from above the right circle to Brink atop the left. The forward ripped a one-timer past Jake Allen for his seventh goal this season. Brink is now one point shy of tying his career-high set last season (23).

Just as Nolan got done announcing Brink’s goal, Joel Farabee made it 2-0. Laughton sent a puck on goal that seemed to handcuff Allen and Farabee, crashing the net, knocked in the rebound. The goal, his eighth of the season and 90th of his NHL career, came just 28 seconds after Brink scored.

Less than three minutes into the second period, Garnet Hathaway extended the Flyers lead to 3-0. The fourth line, which pinned the Devils in their zone, got one as Hathaway tipped in a shot by Cam York. Ristolainen collected the secondary assist, giving him 300 NHL points.

Sam Ersson continues to rock as he allowed two goals on 32 shots. The first goal wasn’t really his fault. The shot by Dougie Hamilton went off the crossbar and into the air with Travis Sanheim trying to knock it away — except the puck went off the back of Ersson and in. The goal came with 73 seconds remaining in the second period.

The second came with 1:22 left in the third period, when the Flyers couldn’t get the puck out of their end. Timo Meier finished it off with a one-timer from the right circle.

Outside of that, Ersson was stellar.

He made a big save on Meier less than 2 minutes after Hathaway scored. Then, with the teams skating four-on-four, he made three saves, including stopping Jesper Bratt from atop the crease, followed by a save on a quick shot by Dawson Mercer after receiving a pass from the half wall.

Ersson stoned Jack Hughes with his blocker midway through the middle frame on a two-on-one, but it was the Flyers who were getting tons of odd-man rushes. The only problem, Allen was in the way.

The Flyers had a ton of chances to break the game — wide open — in the third period, before Laughton added an empty-netter. But, the Devils goalie stoned Hathaway on a two-on-one off a pass from Morgan Frost and 41 seconds later robbed Brink after he received a pass from Jamie Drysdale on a two-on-one.

Breakaways

Laughton returned to the lineup after missing three games due to a family matter. ... Egor Zamula has now missed two straight games with an upper-body ailment. ... Sean Couturier did not play due to illness.

Up next

The Flyers head up I-95 for a rematch with the Devils on Wednesday at the Prudential Center.