Hughes Brothers Spoil the Flyers' Fightback as Devils Win Opener in OT
Luke Hughes tied it in the third and Jack Hughes ended it at 3:23 of overtime as New Jersey opened the season with a 3-2 win over a much-improved Philadelphia.
One night after a 7-0 home humbling by the Penguins, the Flyers were a different team in Newark. It still wasn't enough. Jack Hughes scored at 3:23 of overtime to give the New Jersey Devils a 3-2 season-opening win on October 1, per NHL.com.
How it unfolded
Philadelphia led twice. Rasmus Ristolainen redirected a Travis Sanheim point shot at 11:12 of the first during a delayed penalty, and after Dougie Hamilton tied it late in the second, Sanheim restored the lead himself at 5:33 of the third with a slap shot from the top of the left circle. The Devils' answer came from their blue line's future: Luke Hughes snapped one home from the high slot at 9:44, set up by Luke Evangelista.
In overtime, Jesper Bratt and Jack Hughes played the two-man game the Prudential Center crowd came to see — a give-and-go that left Hughes an open look from the slot. It was his fifth career season-opening goal, tying the franchise record shared by Zach Parise and Bobby Holik, and NHL.com notes the Devils are now 8-1-0 in games both Hughes brothers score.
The goalie story
Joseph Woll was the reason Philadelphia had a point to lose, stopping 41 shots in his Flyers debut. Jake Allen needed just 23 saves at the other end. The shot gap tells you who controlled play; Woll's night tells you the Flyers may have found the steadying presence their crease lacked a night earlier.
What it means
New Jersey opens 1-0-0 with its stars doing star things in front of a home crowd that Yahoo Sports described as electric. Philadelphia falls to 0-1-1 — but a road point earned on 41 saves and two lead-taking goals is a far healthier data point than anything from opening night.