The Flyers Dispatch The Devils Before Weekend Series Against The Islanders

They still aren’t firing on all cylinders, but the Philadelphia Flyers made enough good things happen this week to pick up a pair of regulation road wins against the New Jersey Devils.

Mission Accomplished In Jersey

On Tuesday, a pair of early power-play goals by James van Riemsdyk fuelled a 5-3 win at Prudential Center. Nolan Patrick, Joel Farabee, and Ivan Provorov also scored. The Flyers outshot New Jersey 31-26 and helped Brian Elliott improve his record in net to 2-0-0 on the year.

Thursday night, Carter Hart was named the game’s first star, returning to action after the outburst last Saturday that left his shattered goalie stick all over the ice in Boston. The Flyers gave up the first goal and managed just eight shots through the first 40 minutes. They were outshot 34-17 in the game but came out with a 3-1 win. That moves the Flyers to 5-2-1 for the year and into third place in the MassMutual East Division.

It’s Prosser Time

After signing with the Flyers as a free agent in 2019 and spending all of last season in the AHL, 34-year-old journeyman defenseman Nate Prosser opened the scoring for Philadelphia midway through the first period, tying the game 1-1.

Welcome to the 🟠 & ⚫️, Nate Prosser.#AnytimeAnywhere | #PHIvsNJD pic.twitter.com/Kam67pDaG8

— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) January 29, 2021

Inserted into the lineup on a pairing with Erik Gustafsson, who was a healthy scratch on Tuesday, Prosser made a statement in his first-ever game in a Philadelphia uniform.

After an offensive-zone faceoff win by Kevin Hayes, Prosser drove to the net as Gustafsson took a snap shot from the left point. He scooped the puck through a maze of bodies and past Devils goalie Scott Wedgewood. It was just his 11th career goal, in 355 NHL games.

Gustafsson went on to earn the primary assist on Claude Giroux’s third-period insurance goal. He finished with a two-point night and third-star honors in his return to the lineup. A fourth-line goal from Michael Raffl at the 2:10 mark of the third period proved to be the game winner.

Flyers coach Alain Vigneault scratched Mark Friedman and Robert Hagg on his blue line to make room for Prosser and Gustafsson.

He’s expected to tweak his group again when Philadelphia hosts the New York Islanders for the first of two back-to-back contests. After missing the last four games with a fractured rib, Philippe Myers could return to action on Saturday.

.⁦@NHLFlyers⁩ defenseman Phil Myers, getting close to returning from a fractured rib, worked out in Voorhees today. Photo: Zack Hill. pic.twitter.com/5DlO5gIn0S

— Sam Carchidi (@BroadStBull) January 29, 2021

Before Thursday’s game, Vigneault said he believed injured center Sean Couturier was “still a couple of weeks away,” after he started skating this week.