{{pageModel.leagueAbbr}} {{pageModel.subtitle}} | Las Vegas Review-Journal
National Hockey League
New Jersey 4, Philadelphia 0
When: 7:00 PM ET, Thursday, December 22, 2016
Where: Prudential Center, Newark, New Jersey
Referees: Wes McCauley, Brian Pochmara
Linesmen: Shandor Alphonso, David Brisebois
Attendance: 16514

NEWARK, N.J. -- Playing their most complete game in recent memory, the New Jersey Devils snapped a seven-game losing streak with a 4-0 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday night at the Prudential Center.

Goaltender Cory Schneider rebounded from a shaky performance in Tuesday's 5-1 home-ice loss to the Nashville Predators and stopped all 16 shots he faced to earn his first shutout of the season, and 22nd of his career. His most impressive stop was a diving glove save along the goal line early in the second period to rob Philadelphia's Michael Raffl.

"Cory was excellent," said New Jersey's P.A. Parenteau, who had a goal and an assist in the win. "That's the Cory I've known from playing against him all of these years. He was patient, and looked really good tonight."

Adam Henrique also had a goal and an assist for the Devils (13-13-7), who had not won a game since Dec. 6.

The loss marks only the second time this season that the high-scoring Flyers (20-12-4) were shut out; and their 16 shots on goal were a season low.

"It's probably the worst game we've played all year," said Flyers alternate captain Wayne Simmonds.

The Devils jumped on a Flyers team that had played an overtime game the night before against the Washington Capitals, grabbing a 2-0 lead less than 14 minutes into the contest.

Parenteau opened the scoring at 7:40, deflecting Michael Cammalleri's power-play slap shot off Flyers goalie Steve Mason and over the goal line for his eighth of the season. Then at 13:26, rookie Miles Wood chipped the rebound of Henrique's shot into the cage for his fourth goal.

"Getting that first goal was critical," said Schneider. "Then adding to the lead was just as important. We were tired of losing; and we showed that tonight."

Fireworks were set off 22 seconds after Wood's goal when Brandon Manning dropped New Jersey's Sergey Kalinin to the ice with a hard, high hit. A scrum ensued, and four players were sent off for roughing minors.

That was just the beginning of the bad blood. Before the first period was over, 46 penalty minutes were assessed, including fighting majors to Seth Helgeson and Cammalleri of the Devils, and Dale Weise and Nick Cousins of the Flyers.

"It was big seeing everybody sticking up for the guy next to him," said Henrique. "There were guys who you normally don't see in scraps stepping up, and that always gets the bench fired up."

Added Schneider, "We didn't take any of their nonsense. Everybody bought in tonight and played hard."

Though the second period began with six players sitting in the penalty boxes, things settled down considerably, and only two minors were called in the next 20 minutes.

New Jersey added to its lead in the second, though. Henrique roofed a shot over the shoulder of goaltender Anthony Stolarz, who replaced Mason after the first period, for his eighth goal of the season to give the Devils a 3-0 lead.

Kyle Palmieri was credited with his first goal in eight games when he deflected Andy Greene's wrist shot into the net for a power play score at 18:38 of the third period to close out the scoring.

"We didn't have a whole lot of energy tonight," said Flyers head coach Dave Hakstol. "We just couldn't get engaged. That hasn't happened too much in the first half (of the season). This group has been a bunch of warriors; but we just didn't have the energy tonight."

Along with the defeat, the Flyers also lost Raffl to a lower-body injury during the game. He is expected to miss 1-2 weeks of action.

NOTES: The Devils had not lost eight games in a row since a 10-game slide (0-6-4) from March 25-April 15, 2013. ... D Seth Helgeson was called up from AHL Albany on Thursday and took the place of veteran D Kyle Quincey in the Devils lineup. To make room for Helgeson on the roster, New Jersey placed C Jacob Josefson (upper body) on IR. ... The other Devils scratches were RW Nick Lappin and RW Devante Smith-Pelly. ... The Flyers remained without C Sean Couturier, RW Matt Read and G Michal Neuvirth, who all are on IR. ... The Flyers scratches were D Mark Streit (upper body), D Nick Schultz and C Boyd Gordon.
Top Game Performances
 
Philadelphia   New Jersey
N/A Points Adam Henrique 2
N/A Goals Adam Henrique 1
N/A Assists Adam Henrique 1
N/A Power Play Goals PA Parenteau 1
N/A Short Handed Goals N/A
Anthony Stolarz .857 Save Percentage Cory Schneider 1.000
Anthony Stolarz 12 Saves Cory Schneider 16
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Shots Goals Power Play Penalty Kill Penalty Mins Face Offs Won
Philadelphia 16 0 0-2 4-6 50 29
New Jersey 22 4 2-6 2-2 32 24
Upcoming Games
  • New Jersey will play their next game on the road against Pittsburgh. The Devils have a W/L % of .500 after a win and .333 after a loss.
  • Philadelphia will play their next game on the road against St. Louis. The Flyers have a W/L % of .550 after a win and .562 after a loss.