Stadium Series game 1 Flyers vs Devils 2/17/24: Devils Hischier nets two goals in 6-3 win over Flyers at Met Life

New Jersey right winger Tyler Toffoli (73) celebrates putting the puck in the net against the Philadelphia Flyers during the first period in the Stadium Series at Met Life Stadium in East Rutherford New Jersey on Sat Feb 17, 2024

By Jessica Kwong

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — The New Jersey Devils dominated the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday night with a 6-3 victory in game one of the NHL Stadium Series that is making history as the first-ever outdoor professional hockey event with back-to-back contests at the same venue.

The NHL’s 40th outdoor game was filled with spectacle at MetLife Stadium, which serves as the home for the NFL teams the New York Jets and the New York Giants. The Devils hosted their division rivals, the Flyers, and came away with a much-needed win that put them two points behind Detroit Red Wings for the wild card.

“It was a big game, big event but especially a big game against a rival, a four-point game there and it was a huge win for us so that’s a team we’re chasing,” said Devils captain Nico Hischier. “So I think everybody was ready to play and it was all business for us.”

Only 32 seconds into the first period, Hischier made a backhand goal assisted by Ondrej Palat to put New Jersey up 1-0. It was the second fastest goal in an NHL outdoor game after Colby Armstrong’s goal 21 seconds into the Winter Classic back in 2008. At 13:30, Tyler Toffoli made a wrist shot from Brendan Smith and Jack Hughes to boost the Devils up 2-0.

In the second period, Owen Tippett made a wrist shot assisted by Travis Konecny and Egor Zamula to cut the Flyers’ lead to 2-1. There was an outburst of scoring at the end of the second period. At 16:36, Smith made a wrist shot from Palat and Hischier to put the Devils up 3-1. New Jersey kept up their offense and at 17:48, Nathan Bastian made a snap shot from Timo Meier and Curtis Lazar to extend their lead to 4-1.

The Flyers answered back at 18:23 when Tippett made a wrist shot from Konecny and Morgan Frost and Philadelphia trailed 4-2.

Flyers head coach John Tortorella said the most important part of the game was when they got a roll in the second period and starting taking penalties.

“Not so much being man down but we’re man down, four on four,” said Tororella. “We needed another goal in the second and I thought we were right there knocking on the door, but then we took some penalties and it took us out of our flow.”

In the third period, Hischier made a wrist shot at 2:48 from Jesper Bratt and John Marino to bring the Devils up 5-2. The Flyers pushed to remain in the game as Nick Seeler made a wrist shot at 9:07 from Scott Laughton and Sean Walker to make it 5-3. But the Devils were relentless as Bastian made a wrist shot from Erik Haula and Lazar at 18:15 to lead and eventually beat the Flyers 6-3.

Devils head coach Lindy Ruff commended his team for coming through in the third period.

“As we talked this morning, we needed this win. If they beat us it puts them almost out of reach,” said Ruff. “You look at that game and you enjoy it and we move on to the next one now.”

It was 30.6 degrees Fahrenheit when the puck dropped at 5 p.m. PT for the first game of the 2024 Navy Federal Credit Union NHL Stadium Series. There were 70,328 fans in attendance.

MetLife Stadium was transformed under the theme NHL Stadium Series Park, with the ice rink in the middle of the football stadium surrounded by grass, plants, paths, park benches and a couple of floor hockey courts. The teams’ mascots, the NJ Devil and Gritty, ran around the “park” and special guests watched a special pre-game concert on a grassy area behind one of the goals. The Jonas Brothers played the pre-game concert and during the second intermission.

The Devils travel to face the Washington Capitals on Tuesday. The Flyers finish their three-game road trip at the Chicago Blackhawks on Wednesday.

On Sunday, the Stadium Series continues at MetLife Stadium with the New York Rangers (5-16-3) versus the New York Islanders (22-18-13), first and fifth in the Metropolitan Division respectively. The puck drops at 12 p.m. PT/3 p.m. ET.

NHL Navy Federal Credit Union Stadium Series podcast with Jessica Kwong: Outdoor Stadium Series continues with Flyers vs. Devils; Rangers vs. Islanders this weekend at Met Life Stadium

NHL Navy Federal Credit Union Stadium Series at Met Life Stadium East Rutherford New Jersey begins Sat Feb 17, 2024 with Philadelphia vs. New Jersey and Sun Feb 18, 2024 NY Rangers vs. NY Islanders (ESPN image)

On Headline Sports podcast with Jessica:

#1 Jessica lots of anticipated excitement regarding the 2024 NHL Navy Federal Credit Union NHL Stadium Series at Met Life Stadium in East Rutherford New Jersey.

#2 The first game features the Philadelphia Flyers and New Jersey Devils on Sat Feb 17th. The outdoor game between these two teams has the Flyers who are in third place in the Metropolitan Division at 29-19-6. The Flyers have won four straight games. New Jersey is just behind the Flyers with a 27-21-4 in fourth place. This could be a pretty evenly match game. A 5:00pm PT/8:00pm ET face off.

#3 In the second game Sun Feb 18 at Met Life it’s the battle of the crosstown rivals the New York Rangers and New York Islanders. The Rangers who are first place in the Metropolitan Division they have won five straight games 34-16-3 with a whopping 71 points. The Islanders are in fifth place 22-18-13 they have lost their last two games. No matter where these two teams are in the standings it’s a rivalry and expect neither to give in especially on a big stage like the Stadium Outdoor series. Face off on Sunday 12:00pm PT/ET 3:00pm.

#4 Met Life Stadium capacity is 82,500 and is expected to be a sell out. This attendance for this game could rival one of the NFL games that is played at the stadium on a regular basis that’s how popular these outdoor games are.

#5 One of the featured attractions of the Stadium Series this will be the 40th and 41st outdoor games this will be the first time that four teams will play at the same venue for the New York/New Jersey fans. This will be the fifth outdoor game for the Flyers (1-3-1), the Rangers have a perfect record in the outdoor games (4-0-0), the Devils and Islanders have played in just one outdoor game and share the same outdoor record (0-1-0).

Jessica Kwong hosts Headline Sports every other Wednesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

NHL podcast with Len Shapiro: Devils Bratt hopes for some snow at Winter Classic games; Is there a NY Rangers goalie controversy?; plus more news

New Jersey Devils’ Jesper Bratt (63) skates against the Carolina Hurricanes during the first period of Game 5 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup second-round playoff series in Raleigh, N.C., Thursday, May 11, 2023. Bratt hopes for some snow during the NHL Stadium Series Winter Classic on Sat Feb 17, 2024 at MetLife Stadium at East Rutherford in New Jersey (AP Photo/Karl B DeBlaker, File)

On the NHL podcast with Len Shapiro:

#1 Edmonton Oilers had their 16 game win streak snapped as they were defeated by the Vegas Golden Knights 3-1 at the T Mobile Center at the Fortress. The Knights were a tough customer.

#2 The New Jersey Devils Jesper Bratt, Nico Hischier, and Timo Meier were hoping for some snow for the Winter Classic games on Feb 17th and 18th as the Devils will be hosting the Philadelphia Flyers. Bratt said that he grew up watching the NHL outdoor games and said that snow at the Stadium Series would be cool to have, “I mean, I grew up watching some of the Winter Classic games and obviously when it was snowing out, it made it a little more real.”

#3 New York Rangers goaltender Jonathan Quick got the call for his third straight game and it had the media asking Rangers head coach Peter Laviolette if there is a goalie controversy as Rangers star goaltender Igor Shesterkin will now be the back up, “‘Shesty’ is our guy here,” Laviolette said “We’re going to work in the next few days to get him some practice time, get him some reps.”

#4 Len, refrigeration truck showed up at Met Life Stadium in preparation for the Stadium Series Winter Classic to prepare the ice rink for the two games on Feb 17th and 18th a first in the outdoor series for back to back games. Andrew Higgins, NHL senior manager, facilities operations and hockey operations said, “I think this will be a little extra challenging, just kind of ramping ourselves up a second day and getting ready for that second game before we get ready to tear out.”

#5 Len, I’ll let you tell us how you see tonight’s doubleheader between the Tampa Bay Lightning at New York Rangers underway in the first game and in game two it’s the Minnesota Wild at Chicago Blackhawks at 6:30pm PT.

Len Shapiro does the NHL podcasts at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

San Jose Sharks podcast with Troy Ewers: Sharks coming off 3-3 road trip face Oilers tonight at SAP Center

The Vegas Golden Knights right winger Jonathan Marchessault (81) skates against the San Jose Sharks defenseman Henry Thrun (3) at T Mobile Center in Las Vegas on Sun Dec 10, 2023 (AP News photo)

On the San Jose Sharks podcast with Troy:

#1 The last game on the road trip for the San Jose Sharks (8-17-3) they took an shootout loss to the Vegas Golden Knights (19-5-5) 6-5 at the T Mobile Center. The Knights Jonathan Marchessault scored twice in regulation and got the winning shoot out goal on Sunday night.

#2 The Sharks are fully aware what a Marchessault can do and he was the difference in this game where the Sharks hung with the Knights in a close game 6-5.

#3 The Sharks were 3-3 on this past road trip and defeated some of the leagues tougher teams on this trip with wins over the New Jersey Devils, New York Islanders, and the Detroit Red Wings.

#4 Troy wanted to ask you about some of the Sharks scorers on Sunday Mike Hoffman with two goals, Calen Addison and Mario Ferraro both with a goal a piece. They made it close against the Knights which is a huge improvement after how they struggled earlier this season.

#5 The Sharks are taking on the Winnipeg Jets tonight, the Jets are on a run they’ve won four straight games and the Jets (16-8-2) in their last game defeated the Anaheim Ducks 4-2 in Anaheim. The Jets are no pushovers but the Sharks have played much improved hockey how do you see this match up tonight at SAP Center.

Troy Ewers is a San Jose Sharks beat writers for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Headline Sports podcast with Jessica Kwong: Three brothers play same game; Flames Markstrom is week to week; plus more NHL news

Vancouver Canucks Dakota Joshua (81) gets the knock down by the New Jersey Devils Luke Hughes (43) during the second period at the Rogers Centre in Vancouver on Tue Dec 5, 2023 (AP News photo)

On Headline Sports podcast with Jessica:

#1 It wasn’t the movie Slap Shot as the combination of three brothers played in the same game on Tuesday night in Vancouver. The New Jersey Devils Jack Hughes had a goal and two assists and Jack’s younger brother Luke Hughes scored a power play goal against the Vancouver Canucks. The Canucks Quinn Hughes had two assists in the third period. The Devils wound up edging the Canucks 6-5 at Rogers Centre.

#2 Calgary Flames goaltender Jacob Markstrom is listed week to week after sustaining a fractured finger during practice on Monday. The Flames called up goaltender Dustin Wolf from their AHL affiliate. Markstrom 33, is 6-8-2 with 2.94 goals against.

#3 Colorado Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar did not play against the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday night. Makar is listed out with a lower body injury. Makar skated in practice on Tuesday. Makar did not play against the Los Angeles Kings on Sunday in the 4-1 loss.

#4 The Ottawa Senators Brady Tkachuk and Vladmir Tarasenko each had a goal against the first place New York Rangers (10-2-1) on Tuesday night. Anton Forsberg stopped 33 shots for the Sens and Claude Giroux and Drake Batherson scored for Senators (10-10-0).

#5 Jessica, in a game you covered the San Jose Sharks came back and defeated the New York Islanders on William Eklund’s overtime goal with five seconds left to defeat the Isles 5-4 on Tuesday night.

Jessica Kwong does Headline Sports Wednesdays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

San Jose Sharks podcast with Titus Wilkinson: Sharks hoping to take a bite out of the Big Apple Sunday against Rangers at MSG

The San Jose Sharks Anthony Duclair (10) chases down the puck against the New Jersey Devils in first period action. Duclair scored two goals against the Devils on Fri Dec 1, 2023 at the Prudential Center in Newark NJ (AP News photo)

On the SJ Sharks podcast with Titus Wilkinson:

Titus Wilkinson on the SJ Sharks podcast:

#1 The San Jose Sharks Jacob MacDonald and Anthony Duclair each had two goals apiece as the Sharks turned up their offense a notch against the New Jersey Devils in New Jersey on Friday night.

#2 San Jose Sharks goaltender Kaapo Kahkonen stopped 44 shots and allowed three goals in the 6-3 San Jose win.

#3 Mikael Granlund scored a goal and had two assists and William Eklund scored for San Jose to help San Jose pick up their first road win of the season now with a 1-10-0 road record.

#4 San Jose Sharks head coach David Quinn said “I’m happy for our guys. It’s been a tough year, especially on the road,″ Quinn said. ”To find a way to win is a tribute to our team.”

#5 San Jose will face the New York Rangers on Sunday afternoon at 3:00pm PT. The Rangers are first place in the Metropolitan Division with a 16-4-1 record. The Rangers have won eight of their last ten games and are in Nashville tonight before returning to New York on Sunday against the Sharks.

Titus Wilkinson filled in for Mary Lisa for part one on the San Jose Sharks podcast at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

San Jose Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa: Sharks get first road win of season against New Jersey; SJ face Rangers at MSG Sunday

The San Jose Sharks William Eklund (left) and the New Jersey Devils Jonas Siegenthaler (right) battle for the puck in first period action at the Prudential Center in Newark NJ on Fri Dec 1, 2023 (AP News photo)

Mary Lisa on the SJ Sharks podcast:

#1 The San Jose Sharks Jacob MacDonald and Anthony Duclair each had two goals apiece as the Sharks turned up their offense a notch against the New Jersey Devils in New Jersey on Friday night.

#2 San Jose Sharks goaltender Kaapo Kahkonen stopped 44 shots and allowed three goals in the 6-3 San Jose win.

#3 Mikael Granlund scored a goal and had two assists and William Eklund scored for San Jose to help San Jose pick up their first road win of the season now with a 1-10-0 road record.

#4 San Jose Sharks head coach David Quinn said “I’m happy for our guys. It’s been a tough year, especially on the road,″ Quinn said. ”To find a way to win is a tribute to our team.”

#5 San Jose will face the New York Rangers on Sunday afternoon at 3:00pm PT. The Rangers are first place in the Metropolitan Division with a 16-4-1 record. The Rangers have won eight of their last ten games and are in Nashville tonight before returning to New York on Sunday against the Sharks.

Join Mary Lisa for the Sharks podcasts each Saturday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Sharks score three times in third period to defeat Devils 6-3; SJ earns first road victory of season

The San Jose Sharks Mario Ferarro (left) and Jacob MacDonald (right) celebrate scoring a goal in the first period on the New Jersey Devils at the Prudential Center in Newark on Fri Dec 1, 2023 (AP News photo)

By Jessica Kwong

NEWARK, N.J. — The San Jose Sharks finally earned their first road game win this season with a 6-3 victory over the New Jersey Devils at Prudential Center on Friday night.

It was a much welcomed win as the Sharks went into the game 0-10-0 on the road, scoring just six goals in ten games. Their goals on Friday tied their entire road goal total up to that point. Sharks head coach David Quinn said the team had “some nice plays on our goals”.

“It was a hard team play and we gave up 24 shots in the third period, you don’t want, but I thought our six-on-five was really good. I thought we weathered some storms,” said Quinn. “Just happy for our guys, it’s been tough (getting goals) year especially on the road. And to find a way to win like we did is a tribute to our team.”

Jacob MacDonald hit a wrist shot 2:10 into the first period to put the Sharks up 1-0. At 13:21, Dawson Mercer hit a snap shot that tied the game at 1-1.

MacDonald was the star again in the second period, making a tip-in at 2:51 to bring the Sharks up 2-1. It also marked the first time that the Sharks scored more than one goal in a road game, and both were by McDonald. It was his first multi-goal game in his professional career.

Then Anthony Duclair made a slap shot at 9:47 to boost the Sharks to 3-1.

In the final period, Jack Hughes scored an unassisted goal at 2:56 to cut the Sharks’ lead to 3-2. But Duclair had another big moment with a wrist shot from Mikael Granlund at 5:07 to extend the Sharks’ lead to 4-2. Duclair said Granlund’s saucer pass was a top-three pass of his career.

“I just cut the puck and was ready to shoot it and I was like maybe not. Just saw him out there and I mean that was a really good shot by him,” said Granlund. “And just one of those things, that maybe my strength is to try to make good passes and that was a good shot by Anthony.”

At 12:58, Ondrej Palat hit a snap shot and the Devils trailed 4-3. But the Sharks refused to give up, and Granlund made an unassisted snap shot at 13:38 to put the Sharks up 5-3. San Jose put the final touch with 18 seconds left in the period when William Eklund hit a wrist shot from Ryan Carpenter.

MacDonald said the victory felt “really good”.

“Just helps build some confidence especially on the second half of a back-to-back, right, so our condition is in a good place and coming on back-to-back travel and six goals is a good sign for us and helps us build confidence,” he said.

The Sharks started their six-game road trip with a 3-0 loss to the Boston Bruins on Thursday. They had won two in a row prior to that. They crushed the Devils’ hopes of gaining what would have been their season-best four-game winning streak.

San Jose (6-16-2) continues their road trip facing the New York Rangers (16-4-1) at Madison Square Garden on Sun Dec 3 afternoon. The puck drops at 3 p.m. PST.

NHL podcast with Matt Harrington: Sabres Skinner and Peterka score to help edge Wild 3-2; Panthers get three goal win defeat Canes 5-2; plus more NHL news

The Buffalo Sabres left wing Jeff Greenway (12) takes a high stick to the face from the Minnesota Wild’s defenseman Zach Bogosian (24) in front of the Minnesota net at the XCel Energy Arena in Minneapolis on Fri Nov 10, 2023 (AP News photo)

On the NHL podcast with Matt:

#1 Matt taking a look at Friday night’s NHL action the Buffalo Sabres got scoring help from Jeff Skinner and JJ Peterka who both scored goals and got an assist to help defeat the Minnesota Wild 3-2 at KeyBank Center in Minneapolis. Sabers defenseman Henri Jokiharju scored the other Sabres goal with goaltender Devin Levi stopping 33 for Buffalo.

#2 The Florida Panthers Matthew Tkachuk and Carter Verhaeghe each scored a goal and an assist helping the Panthers to extend their win streak to three with a 5-2 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday. The Panthers Alexander Barkov scored a goal and an assist and Uvis Balinskis scored his first goal as a Panther at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise.

#3 The Washington Capitals center Evgeny Kuznetsov scored two goals to help beat the New Jersey Devils 4-2 at the Prudential Center in Newark on Friday night. In his season debut for the Capitals right winger Nicolas Aube-Kubel picked up a goal and an assist, Tom Wilson had two assists and goaltender Charlie Lindgren stopped 24 shots in the win for Washington.

#4 The Toronto Maple Leafs William Nylander scored two times and got an assist and picked up his 14th consecutive game point in the Leafs shootout win over the Calgary Flames 5-4 at Scottiabank Arena in Calgary. Leafs goaltender Joseph Woll stopped 24 shots in the one goal win.

#5 Matt what could you say about the Vegas Golden Knights who picked up a huge win over the San Jose Sharks on Friday night at T Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The Knights scored twice in the first period and picked up another three goals in the third period in the 5-0 final. Sharks goaltender Kaapo Kahkonen was just overmatched as the Knights attacked the zone and the net for multiple red lights behind Kahkonen in the San Jose loss.

Join Matt Harrington is an NHL analyst for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

NHL podcast with Len Shapiro: Sens Stutzle opens up on offense against Leafs; Wild get Bogosian from Lightning; plus more news

Detroit Red Wings defenseman Filip Hronek goes after Ottawa Senators left wing Tim Stutzle who puts the puck on net against the Detroit Red Wings goaltender Ville Husso at Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa on Tue Feb 28, 2023 (AP file photo)

On the NHL podcast with Len Shapiro:

#1 Len talk about the Ottawa Senators Tim Stutzle scored a goal and picked up three assists. The Senators scored three unanswered goals in 3:11 defeating the Toronto Maple Leafs 6-3 at Scotiabank in Toronto.

#2 In a trade on Wednesday the Minnesota Wild got Zach Bogosian from the Tampa Bay Lightning for a seven round draft pick in 2025, and Calen Addison to the San Jose Sharks for Adam Raska and a 2026 fifth round draft pick.

#3 The Colorado Avalanche Ross Colton forward was fined $5000 which is the maximum under the Collective Bargaining Agreement for cross checking New Jersey Devils forward Timo Meier on Tuesday night. The penalty came at 10:44 in the second period and Colton was hit with a major penalty and a game misconduct.

#4 The Chicago Blackhawks Connor Bedard is finding his way around goal creases, Bedard has three goals and five assists and has been a force with Nick Foligno and Philipp Kurashev on the same line. How crucial is Bedard for the Blackhawks.

#5 The San Jose Sharks picked up their first win of the season after losing 11 straight games. The Sharks goaltender MacKenzie Blackwood stopped 39 Flyers shots to save the night. The Sharks defeated the Philadelphia Flyers 2-1 after getting blasted by the Vancouver Canucks 10-1 and Pittsburgh Penguins 10-2. The Sharks defense looked far more improved against the Flyers can you talk about the improvements?

Join Len Shapiro for the NHL podcasts each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com